


we were boxing the stars

by alanabloom



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Camp Counselors AU, F/F, happy and wearing short shorts, in which everyone is happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-14
Packaged: 2018-02-12 07:03:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 21,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2100084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alanabloom/pseuds/alanabloom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Season Two of OITNB told us over and over that prison isn't summer camp.  But, like...maybe I want it to be.  Just for a little while.  Hence...camp counselor AU.</p><p>Piper POV/Vauseman focus, but everyone's definitely part of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Session One

It'll be just like babysitting.

That's what Piper tells herself when she applies for the summer counselor job, conveniently pushing aside the fact that babysitting is usually for only several hours at a time, while the camp is an eight week, 24/7 endeavor: two four week camp sessions, with less than forty-eight hours separating the two.  

It's a co-ed camp, for kids ten through fourteen.  Piper was hoping to get the ten year olds, the girls not yet corrupted by middle school and all the drama and gossip and image that goes along with it, but she gets twelve year olds.  Nine of them, according to the list of names she's given upon arrival, assigned to the Spruce Cabin.  There are two counselors per cabin, and to Piper's relief they seem to be set up so newbie counselors are paired with a veteran.  

Piper's veteran is Nicky Nichols, a short, wild haired girl with a perpetual smirk.  She's here for her third summer, though Piper wouldn't have pegged her for a career camp counselor, so to speak.  She throws her bags unceremoniously on one of the two twin bunks, eyeing Piper as she does so.  "Ever done this before, Blondie?"  

"What?  Oh, not camp, but I babysit a lot..."

"So, no."  She smirks.  Or, well, strengthens her existing smirk.  "Should be fun.  We get the little brats right at the edge of puberty.  Fuckin' magical time."

The first morning is spent with the counselors scattered around the gymnasium that doubles as an auditorium, waiting for either of the camp's directors to have a spare few minutes for the intro meeting.  Nicky abandons Piper as soon as they get inside, calling loud, enthusiastic greetings to the other returning counselors.  Piper sits by herself on the edge of the stage, flipping idly through her packet, looking at the schedule for the next month, the list of activities and a brief description of each one.  

There are a few boxes of craft supplies in the center of the stage and, glancing around, Piper can see some of the girls  are making cabin decorations.  For something to do, she gathers a stack of construction paper and markers, spreads the list of her kids names in front of her, and starts writing, the letters big and loopy and colorful, thinking she can paste them over the door of the cabin.

Nicky doesn't seem inclined toward decorating; she's sitting on the floor next to another, equally smirky girl, and unexpectedly, Piper finds herself staring.  Even sitting down, the girl looks tall, with her black hair and black glasses and a smattering of tattoos that confirms the camp administration is fairly chill in their hiring of counselors.  Or maybe she'd started working here before she had them; there's an easy, familiar rhythm between her and Nicky, visible even from the out of earshot distance, that suggests she's also a returning counselor.  Nicky says something that cracks the other girl up, and Piper feels a swoop of odd, obscure jealousy.

She stares for a moment longer, hoping Nicky will look up and catch her eye, wave her over and make introductions, but it doesn't happen.  Piper returns her attention to her crafting, figuring she'll meet everyone later.  For some reason, she decides to be pointlessly, cutely clever, giving each name card a theme, a design of something that starts with the same letter of each kid's name, and it becomes so absorbing it takes Piper a second to notice someone standing over her, watching as she finishes up the last card.

When she finally looks up, the girl with glasses is grinning with one side of her mouth, looking endlessly amused before Piper's even uttered a word.  "Ambitious," she declares, indicating the stack of paper.  "Probably good thing you're stuck with Nicky...her slack needs to be scooped up with a goddamn wheelbarrow."

"Heard that, Vause!"  Nicky yells from the gym floor.

The girl ignores her, thumbing through the stack with a critical eye.  "Although...it's a little presumptuous of you."  She holds up a blue sign.  "What if  _Brook_ has a crippling fear of bumblebees?"  

Piper digs her teeth into her lower lip, smiling nervously, unable to quite gauge the level of jest.  "But these are so cute."

"Mmm-hmm..."  The girl arches an eyebrow.  Her eyes feel tight and narrow on Piper's face, but Piper can't seem to look away from her, even when she turns her attention away to peruse the rest of the stack.  "And maybe _Caitlin's_ more of a dog person.  People have intense opinions about that, especially twelve year olds."  

Piper makes a grab for the papers, but the girl holds them out of her reach, laughing softly.  She flips to another sheet, and Piper finally releases her entire smile, cutting the other girl off before she can say anything, "Okay, if Sarah doesn't like sunshine, she's coming to the wrong place."

The girl's eyes light up, seemingly pleased with the pre-emptive retaliation, and it makes Piper feel warm and frazzled.  "Fine, that one I'll give you.  But..."  She holds up a red sign, the one Piper just finished.  "Turtles?  Seriously?"  

"I couldn't think of anything else!"

"Trees?  Tigers?"  She flicks her eyebrows up and down.  "Tequila?"

In a quick motion, Piper snatches the pages away, ducking her head momentarily in an attempt to reign in the blush on her cheeks...and her ridiculous, traitor smile.  

When she looks up, the girl's still grinning at her with something like fascination.  "It's Piper, right?"

"Yeah.  And who are you?"  She tries to make it sound like a challenge.

"My name's Alex." 

The syllables of her name round instantly in Piper's throat, like she has no choice but to echo them.  "Do you alway make fun of the newbies, Alex?"

Alex's smile tilts, her eyes roving over Piper's face like she's searching for something.  "Only the pretty, crafty ones."  She lowers her voice, conspiratorially.  "Arts and crafts has always been my weak spot.  Can't let the kids know, so I need someone to fudge off of.  If your woven bracelets or pipe cleaner flowers start to go missing, don't bother looking for them."

Piper laughs, and Alex looks smug about it, but really she's stuck on the  _pretty_.  

Red and Gloria, the co-directors the camp, choose that moment to finally make an appearance.  Red orders everyone off the stage and into the three rows of folding chairs, Gloria barking reminders that the parents could start arriving in only two hours, as if  _they're_ the ones who've been kept waiting.  

 

* * *

 

They await the kids' arrival on the small porch of their cabin, giving Piper the first chance to survey everyone's cabin match ups.  Across the small lawn from her and Nicky's cabin are Alex and Poussey; between Alex's tattoos and Poussey's sleeveless Staff shirt, tucked into high waisted shorts and paired with huge gold earrings, it's pretty clear they'll be the Coolest Cabin.  

Piper had met most of the others, however briefly, in the aftermath of the meeting: Lorna and Daya, Janae and Suzanne, and Flaca and Taystee are the other cabins visible from Piper's porch.  

She starts to get nervous the second the very first kid appears on the lawn, a tiny braided ten year old flanked by parents and a younger sibling, and directed by Red toward Jane and Suzanne's cabin, but within the next half hour, Piper quickly realizes that, to twelve year olds, she and Nicky are unfathomably cool by mere virtue of their age.  Most of them are returning campers, so even the parents are less nervy and suspicious than they might be.

Once it starts, everything moves fast.

 

* * *

 

Every Sunday, including that first night, the kids sign up for their activities for the week, six a day.  The counselors get assignments at the same time, and rotate through just like the kids, two or three of them monitoring every activity, so they end up interacting with a lot of kids, not just those in their cabins.  Within the first week, Piper gets the full camp experience: she hikes, kayaks, swims in both the overly chlorinated pool and the lake, does arts and crafts, plays dodgeball and soccer and ultimate frisbee, tie-dyes T-shirts and monitors a ropes course.  

There are three meals a day in the mess hall, she and Nicky at the heads of a table with their girls on each side, talking over each other in their hurry to recount their most recent activities.   Once a week there's something special about dinner - a cookout by the lake, bag dinners for a picnic on the sprawling lawn by the mess hall.  There are nightly campfires by the line of fire pits near the lake, with singing or ghost stories or counselor skits.  Usually they pass around some easy bulk snack: Doritos or mini Oreo packs or Rice Krispie Treats, but every Friday there are S'mores.

The counselors start to accumulate an excessive amount of handcrafted jewelry.  Cabin pride blooms fast and furious, with handshakes and chants and, in the case of one enthusiastic boys cabin, a rap.   _  
_

By day three, all the girls in Alex and Poussey's cabin are wearing winged eyeliner.  Suzanne, who to be honest Piper had been surprised anyone was allowing to take care of children, seems to have at least one of her ten year olds permanently attached to her hip, gazing up at her adoringly.  Lorna and Daya's girls start coordinating their hair: french braids one day, milkmaid's another.  Nicky and Piper have established comedic personas that essentially consist of Nicky loudly making fun of Piper while Piper pretends to hate being stuck with Nicky.  The girls love it.

Piper loves their kids, all of them (even though Brook literally never. stops. talking.).  She loves how pleased they are to present her with some beaded bracelet, how much time they spend devising an eleven person handshake, the way they all rush to get the seats beside her and Nicky both at meals and during the nightly campfire.  She loves their cabin circle every night before Lights Out, sitting on the floor surrounded by bunk beds where they share their Highs and Low points from the day (a tradition, according to Nicky) and then swap stories from their pre-camp lives.  She even kind of loves the care they take in their appearance, crowding in front of the big bathroom mirror every morning with make up and hair products, as if they aren't all heading outside into sweltering sun and thick humidity, and possibly even pools or lakes.  There's something sweet about their preteen efforts.  

Camp is built on routines, and the counselors have their own.  Every night, Piper and Nicky hang out in their small room, adjacent to the girls', playing cards between their twin beds and listening for the whispers and giggles on the other side of the wall to gradually fade.

Then they head outside.

The girls cabins are in two long rows with a stretch of soft, well maintained grass between them, placed there so Red or Gloria can ride through on golf carts during their periodic checks.  Between thirty minutes to an hour after Lights Out, the female counselors have taken to gathering in a circle, dead in the center of the cabins.  The boys cabins are up a hill (and, according to rumor, much more primitive),  too far of a radius for the guys to venture down while the kids sleep. 

So the girls lounge on the grass, passing around sports bottles full of liquor or wine.  Much as she loves the kids, those hours are usually Piper's favorite,  when the summer heat turns pleasant rather than oppressive, the alcohol wrapped thinly around her brain, just enough for a quiet buzz, and there's an almost endless sweep of breathless laughter as they swap "campers say the darndest things" anecdotes. Occasionally a camper or two will come outside, confusedly looking for their counselor, usually sent as an emissary from the others to report a fight or homesickness or someone who refuses to turn off a light. Whenever a kid has to tentatively approaches the circle, there's always a mingling of shock and fascination in their expressions, the sort of look that comes from running into a teacher at the grocery store.

Sometimes, most of the time, when someone makes a joke, Piper finds herself making eye contact with Alex, wherever she is in their circle.  It makes no sense, why  _she's_ the person Piper instinctually looks to to share the mirth.  Except, when it happens, Alex's eyes always seems to be darting to hers, too.

Piper's not sure what the hell this is, what it is about Alex Vause that makes her overly aware of her own skin.  She likes all the other girls, is genuinely making friends with most of them, but Alex is the first person she looks for in a crowd.  It's like she's the brightest thing in any room, as if everyone else can't help but blur at the edges when she's around.

 

* * *

 

Piper and Taystee are overseeing a group of kids playing archery when one of Piper's girls who definitely isn't in the archery group comes running over, pale and stricken.  "Piper?"  She's standing about ten feet back, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

Piper and Taystee both look back.  "Hey, Sarah, you okay?"

The girl looks nervously at the other kids, who are starting to turn around, curious as to the interruption.  She waves her hand at Piper, gesturing for her to come here.  

When Piper's in front of her, out of earshot of her own activity group, Sarah whispers, "I'm...bleeding."

"What?  What happened?"   Piper's already on autopilot, scanning the girl's arms and legs for evidence of a fall.  

"No. Like..."  Sarah lets her eyes dart downward, face beet red and miserable.  " _Bleeding_."  

"Wha...oh.   _Oh_."  For a moment, Piper's at an utter loss.  She'd gotten her period when she was thirteen, and her mother had merely handed her a box of pads and said, nervously,  _They've explained this to you in school, yes?_

But then her good sense kicks in, and she schools her face into a calm, dismissive expression.  "Not a big deal.  Just give me a second..."  She jogs over and whispers to Taystee, who grins immediately and shoots Sarah a covert, congratulatory thumbs up.  Piper puts a reassuring hand on Sarah's shoulder and steers her away from the archery station.  "Now, what activity are you supposed to be in?"  

"Volleyball." 

"Do they know you came to find me?" 

"No, I said I was going to the bathroom."  

"Okay, we'll just stop by there first, okay?  You gotta make sure whoever's in charge always knows where you are." 

After a quick conference with Daya and John Bennett, who seem to be taking a very hands off approach in their participation in the volleyball game, Piper walks Sarah to the nurse's tent, which is much closer than the cabins.  Half an hour later, Sophia sends her and Sarah away armed with boxes of tampons, pads, and all the vagina information they need.

The activities have rotated by the time they've dropped everything off at the cabin; Piper hopes Taystee told whoever she was supposed to be paired with on  paddle boating why she'd be late.  She drops Sarah off at Capture The Flag (probably a bad day to pick so many active activities, but at least her schedule isn't crowded with swimming and slip 'n slide), where Alex and Janae seem to be acting as both referees and team captains.  

Janae's at _least_ as competitive as any of the kids, as usual, running and yelling instructions like it's a professional sporting event.  Alex, on the other hand, seems to view the game as more of an entertainment opportunity, going from cluster to cluster of kids and yelling over the top encouragement that's probably meant to be a direct parody on Janae's intensity.  

Piper stops for a moment to watch.  She doesn't know why, exactly, but she really likes watching Alex with the campers, to the point where she keeps getting momentarily distracted from her own girls during meals or the campfire because she's straining so hard to eavesdrop.  Alex is just so damn  _cool,_ most of the time.  She practically oozes it.  In the circle at night, she doesn't talk much, just stretches out on her stomach or leans back on her elbows and listens, smiling that lazy, confident smile and making eye contact with Piper and very occasionally chiming in with some perfectly timed, snarky one liner.  

But with the kids, Alex is different.  Sure, she keeps the snark and sarcasm on hand for when the campers are being particularly  _teenage_ (even the ten and eleven year old get occasional waves of _too cool for this_  attitude, and with the older kids it's practically a daily occurrence), but when they let her, she has no qualms about going full Dork.

(Tall, gorgeous Dork, running around the Capture The Flag field in her athletic shorts and a sweat soaked T-shirt, the outline of a sports bra visible in the back.   _God_.)  

Piper's almost forgotten that she has someplace she's supposed to be when Alex suddenly stops her goofy running, turning her attention to a kid who's just sat down on the sidelines by himself.  A boy, likely one of the ten year olds, blonde and freckled and small for his age with round Harry Potter glasses.  Piper recognizes him from other activities...Ben something, she doesn't know who his counselor is, but he's usually signed up for the pool or the arts and crafts room or even the occasional board game slots.  The quiet, indoorsy type.  

Alex jogs over to Janae and says something Piper can't hear, then heads off the field to sit down next to Ben.  She immediately mimics his demeanor, folding her long legs up best she can and picking absently at blades of grass; after a second, she says something that makes him burst into laughter.  

Piper can't help but smile, watching them.  Even from the distance, she can see Alex is treating it like a very real conversation, none of the  _don't you think you ought to join in and play?_ bullshit, and she can see the little boy practically glowing from the attention.

Piper doesn't exactly blame him.

 

* * *

 

That night, in their circle, Taystee asks Piper how everything worked out and then insists they all take a shot to Sarah and her newfound womanhood.  Piper's half-amused, half-bizarrely embarrassed on behalf of her camper, but it leads to a good hour or so of swapping first period stories.  

Taystee's in the middle of hers, which apparently arrived in fifth grade in the middle of a timed multiplication test, when Red, with Norma driving silently beside her, rides stealthily up on her golf cart.  Taystee's on such a roll she doesn't notice when everyone directly across from her in the circle stops laughing.  

"...and I had no choice but just sit there and finish the damn test fast as I could, cause no way I was gonna let that lil motherfucka Derek Cassidy beat me - "  Red thwacks her on the back of the head.  

"If these girls all go home with potty mouths, I'm simply going to give complaining parents a list of phone numbers for _certain_ _counselors_."

Piper glances around the circle, amusingly monitoring which counselors immediately school their faces into overly angelic expressions (Nicky, Flaca, Alex, and Cindy).  

"Aw, Red, I don't talk like that in front of the shorties," Taystee assures her.  "That's just for _our_ time."

She gestures around the circle.  In spite of the supposed camouflage afforded by the plastic sports bottles, everyone who happened to be holding one seems to be taking great pains to make it as inconspicuous as possible.

Red makes a skeptical little _pft_ sound, but then turns her attention to the group as a whole.  "Everything go okay today?" 

Either she or Gloria swings by to ask this every night, wanting to know if there were any incidents, or if any campers are having a hard time.  Everyone nods and murmurs affirmatives, glancing around, waiting to see if anyone's going to speak.  In lieu of serious news, Nicky announces, "One of ours became a woman today."  She slings an arm around Piper's shoulder.  "We're so proud."

"How _wonderful_  for her," Red deadpans.  She climbs back onto the golf cart, nodding at Norma to go.  "Not too late now, girls."

 

* * *

 

For the rest of the week, Piper watches Alex more and more, and she starts to pick up on her pattern: the way she always makes a point to go talk to any kid standing on the edge of an activity, the way she hangs back to walk with any lonely stragglers, even if they're not her own campers.  There's something sweet and unexpected about it, though Piper has no idea how she could presume to expect or not expect anything about Alex Vause.

Still, even though Alex extends this treatment to many campers, Ben's the one who gets attached.

He walks by Alex's table at every meal to say hi, runs up to her during every activity rotation, asking hopefully if she's running whatever slot he's signed up for that block, even has to be corralled by his counselors (Bennett and some slightly chubby, blonde dude bro who looks like he arrived straight from his frat house) during campfires or the occasional large scale mass recreation period.  Piper observes all this with amusement, inarguably smitten by how sweet and patient Alex gets when he's around.  Alex's campers find it endlessly hilarious, and every time Ben trots away they start teasing their counselor about her  _booooyfriend_ , which never fails to make Poussey (and Nicky, if she's paying attention) laugh her ass off.

It happens one morning at breakfast, when Ben makes his customary walk by Alex and Poussey's table to say hi.  

"Hey, Alex," he smiles shyly.

"Benny Boy!  Morning." 

He usually moves on after that, endlessly pleased with even minimal interaction, but right now he's hovering, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and casting frequent glance back at his own table, all of whom are watching expectantly.  Piper turns around and catches Nicky's eye, nodding at the scene playing out at the table behind them; something's obviously been planned.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."  

Ben starts laughing, red faced, then casts a glance back over his shoulder.   Fratty Counselor makes a  _get on with it_ gesture.  He turns around to his other campers, and soon the whole bunk is chanting, "Do it, do it, do it!"

Ben rolls his eyes and sighs, laughing nervously to show he's in on the joke.  He pulls out a plastic wrapped ring pop.  "I'm supposed to ask you to marry me." 

The girls at Alex's table (and Piper's table, and all surrounding tables) start squealing with mirth, while Ben's cabin mates burst into whoops of delight.  Ben himself is starting to look like he wants to sink under the table, so Alex grins at him, leaning close and whispering, "That wasn't really asking, buddy."

"Oh right."  He takes a breath and rushes through the words, " _Willyoumarryme?_ _"_

Alex gives a long, exaggerated nod.  "Sure thing."

Released from his duty, Ben practically throws the Ring Pop at her and hurries back to his table as his counselors lead the whole cafeteria in a round of applause.  

At the end of breakfast, when the kids are lining up to return their trays, Nicky says loudly, "Hey, Vause, wish I'd found someone to bet me on you ever getting engaged to a guy.  With those odds, I'd be rolling in cash right now."

Alex turns her body away from a nearby group of campers and props her middle finger underneath her chin.

 

* * *

 

That night, out on the grass, is one of those nights that quickly dissolves into smaller pockets of conversation, and Piper's lying stretched on her back, half asleep, when she feels someone kick the toe of her shoe.

She opens her eyes.  Nicky and Lorna are looming over her.  "Hey, Chapman, I'm gonna go hang in Morello's cabin for a bit."

"Yeah, we're trying different shades of lipstick," Lorna says enthusiastically.  "I'm real good at tellin' what works best with someone's complexion.  You wanna join?"

"Yeah, Chapman, wanna join?"  Nicky repeats sincerely, turning her head slightly to give Piper a look that says, in no uncertain terms, she is not to join if she wants to avoid bodily harm.

"No, thanks, I'm just going to hang out here for a bit.  Thanks though."  

Nicky nods approvingly.  It's a sympathy worthy crush, but Piper had been unequivocally relieved as soon as she got wind of it, for reasons she's not quite ready to examine too closely.

Piper sits up, debating if she should just go to bed a little earlier than usual - she'd had an activity run of soccer, kayaking, hiking, and softball before she'd finally escaped to the merciful AC and chair filled arts and crafts room, and her whole body is feeling the effects.  People are already scattering, fewer counselors lounging on the lawn than normal.  

"Hey, yo, we're gonna walk down to the lake if anyone's interested,"  Poussey, standing with Taystee and Cindy, announces to the general crowd.

Piper's instinct is to refuse.  They're technically not supposed to be that far away from the cabins, even though there's a general, unspoken sense that by this far past Lighrs Out, things are pretty okay as long as there are a few counselors close by.  Exhaustion aside, Piper doesn't feel like testing the rules too much, especially with Nicky in a state of distraction two cabins over.

But then Alex stands up, says, "I'll go," and without any further thought to the matter Piper hears herself say, "Me, too."

They take the narrow, shortcut path through the woods to get to the lake, and Alex and Piper fall naturally into step together behind the other three.  Piper shoots her a light, teasing smile, "So it seems congratulations are in order."

For a second, Alex looks blank, but then understanding dawns and she grins.  She shrugs, oh so casually, affecting a tone of exaggerated false modesty.  "Oh, you saw that?"

"It was quite touching."

"Wasn't it?  I'd ask you to be in the bridal party, but I've already got like nine thirteen year old bridesmaids.  Unless you have any interest in Flower Girl"

Piper laughs out loud at that.  "Maybe.  It would depend on my dress."

"I'll see what I can do."  Alex rolls her eyes.  "Really, though, the girls won't  _shut up_ about it.  Like, they know it's a joke, but they also apparently need to hear me  _admit_ it's a joke.  Which I refuse to do.  I'm like a parent forcing their teenage kid to still believe in Santa."

Piper laughs, then after a few quiet moments adds, more seriously, "You're really sweet to him.  Ben, I mean."

"He's a good kid.  I'm kinda hoping this gives him some cred with his bunkmates.  He always seemed like the odd one out."

They're quiet for a moment, walking down the path at a leisurely pace, falling even further behind the others.  There's something knowing in Alex's voice that strikes a chord in Piper, and not for the first time she wonders if the care Alex takes with the left out kids has something to do with experience.

But that's almost too hard to imagine.  

" _HEY_!"  Cindy's voice echoes through the trees.  "Y'all bitches get  _Taken_ or some shit?  Cause you  _know_ we'd die first in the horror movie, so I ain't hauling ass back to rescue you, no offense."

"Then why even ask?"  Alex yells back.

" _Ob_ viously, so I know if I need to run the fuck away from somethin'!" 

They laugh and quickly jog to catch up, emerging from the woods just next to the fire pits.  Taystee's standing up on one of the benches, hands folded primly in front of her, singing a low, dramatic, operatic version of _Kum Bah Yah_ _._ Poussey's stretched out on the bench beside her, offering occasional harmonies between giggles and puffs on a joint.    

"Oh, hell yes," Alex mutters, eyes on the weed.  She doesn't sound surprised by its presence; as Poussey's bunkmate, she'd probably known the real reason for this excursion, which probably explains her willingness to join.

Poussey extends her arm to Alex, who takes the joint between two fingers and takes a long, generous hit.  When she finally exhales, she holds it out, voice slightly strained, "Piper?"

Piper hesitates, unable to gauge if this is a crowd where she can admit she's never smoked pot before.  Poussey speaks up, "It'll make the star gazing way better."

"Truth," Cindy nods the affirmative.  

What the hell.  Piper nods, accepting the joint from Alex.  She likes that there's a fresh ring of lipstick on it.  She inhales, the taste familiar in the strange way that means _I've definitely smelled this before_.  She isn't entirely sure she gets any in her lungs, but she manages not to cough until a few seconds after she exhales, and luckily none of them act like it's too unusual. 

They give the joint another go round, with only Taystee abstaining, and then they head down the slight slope onto the pier, Poussey and Alex passing it quickly back and forth, pinching what's left between the very tips of their fingers and taking short shallow puffs to finish it off.  They ditch their shoes by the shore of the lake and file out the very end of the pier to lay down in a row, flat on their backs.  

Piper's not actually sure if she's feeling any effects of the pot, but regardless, it's a gorgeous night, the moon reflecting over the lake, the view above them a rare, open look at the sky not sliced by tree branches.  They relax their eyes, trying not to focus on any one spot, waiting for shooting stars.  No one talks much, save for the occasional "Oh, shit, was that one?  D'y'all see that?" or "Ooh, right there - nah, false alarm, just a plane."

After awhile, Piper's slipped into a pleasant, almost meditative state that feels somewhere between sleeping and waking, when Alex touches a finger to the back of her hand and every nerve in Piper's body jolts awake.  She doesn't move, just lies completely still, trying not to shiver as Alex's finger traces the length of her arm, drawing lazy, absent loops and patterns against her skin.  She can barely feel Alex shift her position, but somehow their bare legs end up flush against each other, the edge of her foot leaning against the arch of Piper's.  

Breath caught in her throat, Piper finally turns her head, chancing a glance at Alex.  She isn't even looking, face still turned up to the sky with a serene expression, but after a few seconds she seems to feel the weight of Piper's stare.  Her neck swivels, her gaze meeting Piper's from four inches away, and she slowly unfurls a maddening, knowing smile.  The moonlight off the lake catches in her glass and for a second Piper can't see her eyes, but then her head moves out of the glare.  

 _Not yet,_ the look on her face seems to say.   _But just you wait_. 

 

* * *

 

The next day, fate (or, rather, Red's assistant Norma, who actually makes the schedule) smiles upon Piper, and she ends up assigned to cover the pool with Alex.  

They drop their backpacks on the poolside chairs and spend at least ten minutes making sure all fifteen of the kids are properly lathered in sunscreen and confirming that they all have to neon bracelets that means they've passed a swim test allowing them access to the deep end of the pool, before they strip off their own T-shirts and shorts.

Alex is wearing this black halter bathing suit that makes Piper wonder who the fuck thought the 'no bikinis for the counselors' rule made any difference at all.  Alex reaches up, clipping her dark hair in a messy pile on top of her head.  Piper's staring like a horny ninth grade and trying to decide how to offer sunscreen help without sounding like a character in a bad 80's movie, when Alex catches her looking.  She smirks, eyes flashing smugly, but all she says is, "See this?  The lesser known Camp Counselor's Tan."  She gestures at herself, but they all have it: standard tanlines clearly marking shorts and T-shirts, but also, more distinctively, the rings of white lining the forearms from a plethora of crafted jewelry.  

"Occupational hazard," Piper agrees with a grin, looking down at her own pile of bracelets sitting carefully on her towel.

Alex slips immediately into the water, but Piper sits on the side, dangling her legs in, watching Alex spend close to ten minutes letting the kids  _ooh_ and _ahhh_  over her tattoos.  Most of them soon swim off for a game of Marco Polo, but Alex has two of her own campers in the group, both of who tread water near the edge with Piper and Alex, still trying to call their counselor out about her upcoming "wedding".  

Alex seems to get a kick out of spinning elaborate, camp themed details.  "We're doing it on the pier, obviously.  Marshmallows and hot dogs for the reception.  The ring's made out of paper mache, super gorgeous."

The girls exchange long-suffering looks.  "It's not _really_ happening, though."

"Of course it's  _really_ happening," Alex says mildly.  She catches Piper's eye.  "Ask Piper.  She's the flower girl."

"It's true," Piper confirms, straight faced.  "Alex is personally weaving me a crown of dandelions."  That earns her a Look, and Piper has to bite back a smile.

"We  _know_ it's a fake wedding.  We're not stupid."

"Of course you're not stupid," Alex agrees.  "I'd never ask stupid people to be in my wedding."

"But also, we should never call people stupid," Piper adds hastily.

Alex rolls her eyes good-naturedly.  "Next week on Missus Rogers' Neighborhood..."

The girls giggle.  Piper's kicks her feet in the water, splashing Alex in the face.  The girls giggle harder, and Alex scowls, removing her glasses with their freshly soaked lenses.  "Oh, thanks a lot."

"You shouldn't be wearing your glasses in the pool," Piper says haughtily, extending her hand to take them.

"Do you want me to be able to _see_ if one of the munchkins starts to drown?"  Alex shoots back even as she hands them over, grinning when Piper props them on top of her own dry head.

"Hey Piper," one of Alex's campers asks.  "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah Piper."  Alex tilts her head, an innocent smile on her face.  "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I..."  Damn her.  Piper can _feel_ the heat in her cheeks.  "No, I don't have a boyfriend."

"Yes, you do!"  The camper declares.  "You're blushing."  She looks at Alex for confirmation.  "Isn't she blushing?"

"Piper, why are you _blushing_?"  Alex demands, arching an eyebrow in a parody of curiosity.

 

* * *

 

Monitoring the rock wall, ropes course, or zip line are typically the easiest activity assignments, because there are already members of the Rec Staff - who work for the campground location, not the camp itself - manning each station.  They're the ones actually trained on the harnesses and pulleys and safety measures, so the counselors really just have to watch and make sure no one wanders off.

So one Monday morning, Piper's okay leaving the surveillance at the ropes course to Cindy for just long enough to head over to the nearby zip line.  Several of her girls were signed up for it for this block, and they'd talked of little else at breakfast.  Knowing her own assignment was close by, Piper had promised to keep an eye out and watch them if she could. 

She hasn't quite gotten there, though, when she hears someone full on  _ranting_ behind her.  She turns around in time to see Tiffany Doggett, one of the Rec Staff members who usually works at the rock wall, leading - almost  _dragging_ \- two campers by their arms.  She instantly recognizes Mercy, one of her and Nicky's own campers.  The other is a wispy little blonde whose slightly smudged but unmistakably winged eyeliner identifies her as a member of Alex and Poussey's cabin (Tessa?  No, Tricia.).  In contrast to Mercy, who looks utterly petrified, Tricia's spitting mad, eyes blazing with the righteous anger of a preteen.  

Doggett's obviously worked herself into quite a tear.  "...find what are supposed to be  _innocent_ children doing something that unnatural.  So,  _yeah_ , I'd say you sure as hell are gonna get in trouble, gonna take you straight to your camp director - "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey."  Piper jogs over, stepping in front of them.  "What's going on here?"

" _Piper_ ,"  Relieved, Mercy jerks away from Tiffany's grip and runs to stand behind Piper like she's escaping enemy territory, fixing her with a begging,  _save me_ look.

Doggett fixes the kids with a glare.  "I found these two  _going at it_ behind the wall."  

Piper makes a face.  "Going  _at_ it?"

Tricia rolls her eyes and scowls.  "Yo, we were just  _kissing_.   _God_."

"Oh, no, you don't get to do that.  You don't get to take the Lord's name in vain two minutes after that unholy - "

" _Hey_."  Piper's voice is a cleaver, cutting her off sharp and fast.  "I'll handle this, thanks."  She tugs Tricia away from Doggett, glancing between the kids.  "Guys, were you out of bounds?"

"No," they chorus.

"Were you skipping an activity?"

" _No_."

"Then I don't see that there's any problem here," Piper declares firmly, eyeing Tiffany pointedly when she says it.  "Who's the counselor at Rock Wall?"

"Suzanne and Maria." 

"Okay, go make sure they know where you are, alright?  We'll be heading to lunch soon."  

They scamper away, relieved, and Piper swings a heated glare at Doggett.  "You.  Do  _not_.  Get to tell  _twelve year olds_ that they're doing something _unnatural_."  

Doggett spread her hands, expression haughty.  "Hey, I just call's 'em like I sees 'em."

"Well, luckily, how you  _sees 'em_ doesn't really fucking matter.  To me, or to anyone else around here.  This isn't Backwoods Jesus Camp, and it's also not _your_ camp.  You've got nothing to do with it, which means I don't have to care about your small minded opinions, and neither do our kids.  So if I catch you talking to any of the campers about anything that isn't  _entirely_ about climbing a fucking wall, then you and I are going to have a big fucking problem."  

The speech is delivered with slow, menacing calm, and by the end of it Piper's looming only a few inches from Tiffany's face.  In response, she makes a scoffing sound and gives Piper the finger, but she walks off, muttering about  _dyke heathens_ as she goes.  

Piper turns around and nearly walks into Alex, grinning at her with unabashed glee.

"Shit," she jumps, startled out of her adrenaline.  "Did you just...?"

"Hear every word of that?  Hell yeah."  Alex laughs softly, this low, throaty sound that hits Piper somewhere in the center of her chest.  "You've got quite the secret fucking temper.  Who'd've thought?"  She tilts her head, the smile easing into something softer.  "We're all lucky you choose to channel it toward good instead of evil."

Piper crosses her arms over her chest, suddenly, inexplicably embarrassed.  "Yeah, well.  She was a bitch."

"Yeah, she's here every summer, too.   _Hates_ me.  So I like to compliment her ass just to piss her off."  Alex looks unmistakably smug about this strategy.  "I saw she had Tricia so I came to see what was up...but you got there first and it was _way_ too much fun listening to your verbal evisceration."  She winks.  She must not have any sporting activity assignments today, because she's wearing this dark grey V-neck and denim cut offs and it looks like she pulled half her hair into a ponytail and gave up on the rest.  

For no reason at all, and probably inappropriate given the seriousness of what just happened, Piper starts blushing.

"I should, uh.  Get back to the ropes course."  

Alex clucks her tongue mockingly.  "Neglecting your post."

Piper smiles crookedly at her and heads off.  She's barely gotten ten feet away when Alex's voice stops her, "Hey, Pipes?"

 _Pipes_.  It slides out as though she's said it a hundred times before.  No big deal.  Piper turns.

"Seriously, that was nicely done."  Alex gives her a short, sincere nod.  "It actually...it probably means a lot for those two to hear you say it's not a problem."

Something is swelling her chest, threatening to burst, and Piper basks in Alex's praise like it's sunshine.  

 

* * *

 

Session One slowly winds down, and the last week seems specifically designed to send the kids into an emotional frenzy, with a special activity every night: a giant cookout with fireworks by the lake; the camp wide photo on the lawn, everyone decked in their sky blue camp T-shirts (red for the Counselors and Staff) that's followed by T-shirt signing, the kids running around with Sharpies and scribbling out heartfelt, yearbook length messages on their bunkmates' backs; and, on the last night of camp, a Friday, a dance for the twelve through fourteen year olds (the tens and elevens get a pajama and pizza party).  

For Piper and Nicky's kids, it's the first year they're allowed to attend the dance, and all of them came prepared with decidedly non-camp-like outfits.  There's an extra hour of shower time after dinner, and they use every minute of it, lined up in front of the mirror, swapping make up and hair straighteners, sweetly, hilariously serious about the whole thing.

Piper moves among them, armed with a brush and bobby pins, fulfilling promises to a few of the girls to help style their hair.  Nicky paces behind, complaining loudly, "Gotta say, ladies, I'm _incredibly_ offended no one asked _me_ for hair help." 

The girls all giggle and exchange looks, but only Brook speaks up, "Well,  _look_ at your hair.  It's giant."

Nicky wields a hairbrush menacingly.  "It's humid in the woods, ya little brats."

They swap craft jewelry for silver and gold goods from Claire's, exchange T-shirts and flip flops for dresses and wedges, switch ponytails and braids for soft waves and up-dos.  As chaperones, Piper and Nicky have to make an effort, too, simple dresses (Piper) or skirts (Nicky).  Piper fishes out her makeup bag for the first time in weeks (Nicky, apparently, has been incapable of giving up her mascara, even in the outdoor heat of summer camp).  

The dance starts at 8:30, and by 8:20 all nine of their girls are lined up by the door, like well dressed, expectant little soldiers, begging to walk down to the gym.

Nicky sighs dramatically, shaking her head in feigned disappointment.  "You guys aren't allowed to leave tomorrow, I still have too much to teach you.  Haven't you heard of _making an entrance_?  Being  _fashionably late_?  We're supposed to be the cool ones here!"

"Nickyyyy," at least four of them whine.

" _Piper_ , tell her to let us go."

"It's probably only fair we go as soon as possible," Piper agrees, then says in a deadpan, overly formal voice, "The party don't start until we walk in."

The girls let out a collective mix of laughter and groans, and Nicky rolls her eyes.  "Jesus God,  _fine_ , we can go.  Just don't let Chapman make anymore jokes."

 

* * *

 

The sprawling gymnasium has been transformed the best it could be, trying to disguise that it's been the daily site of intense dodgeball and basketball games.  Luckily, most of the other cabins - well, the girls' ones, at least - were just as enthusiastic about arriving right on time, so they don't exactly beat the crowd.  Flaca's volunteered herself as DJ, but she doesn't look happy with her playlist of ultra current, profanity free pop hits.  

Most of the other counselors are there, minus those with the youngest kids, and as usual Piper's eyes don't settle until she spots Alex, already on the dance floor with her girls, wearing tight black jeans and a red sleeveless top.  She senses Piper pretty quickly - she has a knack for doing that - and waves, flicking her eyebrows in amusement.  

It's uncanny, the way middle school dances will always be middle school dances, even at camp, even six years removed from Piper's memories of them.  The girls dance in tight knit circles, while the boys mostly line the perimeter of the dance floor, shoving each other and laughing, all empty bravado.  

Piper alternates between goofing off with her campers and circling the dance floor, idly surveying.  At one point, she's rounding a corner when she feels a tug on the skirt of her dress.  She spins to find Alex grinning at her, nodding to the dance floor.  For half a second, Piper's heart speeds up and she feels like a twelve year old being propositioned (she blames the middle school atmosphere - too easy to regress), but then she realizes what Alex is showing her: Mercy and Tricia, dancing close.

She smiles, sincerely.  "Awww.  Cute."  They watch for a second, then Piper glances back at Alex.  "Everyone being cool?"

"Yeah, I've kept an eye out."  Alex smirks.  "If anyone gives them shit I'll send 'em your way.  Let you rough them up a little."  She walks on to continue her own surveillance, crossing behind Piper to do it and pausing just behind her ear to whisper, "You look nice."

 

* * *

 

After an hour and a half or so, the counselors for the younger kids file into the gym; Nicky tells Piper that Gloria and Red usually relieve them for an hour or so, while the ten and eleven year olds are stretched out in the emptied arts and crafst room watching a movie, so they can stop by the dance.  

Not ten minutes after they've arrived, Maria cups her hands around her mouth and yells over the sound of  _Call Me Maybe_ , "Yo, Flaca, how about you play something for us oldsters?"  

Flaca gives a thumbs up, and abruptly switches to Lauryn Hill's  _Doo Wop! That Thing_ _._ The counselors let out a collective cheer at the familiar, cherished sounds of 90's hip hop, and Janae, Poussey, Taystee and Cindy lead the charge to the center of the dance floor.  The campers back away slowly, no recognition in their face but looking perfectly prepared to be amused by their counselors' antics. 

They dance in a tight knit knot, hamming it up for the kids, singing and dancing with equal enthusiasm.  Piper feels a hip bump against hers, and she buts her eyes sideways to see Alex, dancing with a wide, unabashed grin.  Piper grins back, inanely, suddenly feeling stupidly, deliriously happy, and she turns to face Alex completely, dancing close.  Behind her, she hears teasing whoops, hears Poussey say something about  _white girls tryin' to throw down_ , and after a second, Lorna and Nicky wedge in between them.  Lorna gives Piper an exaggerated wink, jokingly admonishingly, "Room for the holy spirit, girls, there are children watching."

The song ends, immediately replaced by The Smiths.  Maritza and Maria lead a chorus of heavy, exaggerated booing, which somehow segues into a massive coughing fit, the coughs sounding suspiciously like the hacked syllables of  _"hipster!"_  

Flaca leans toward the mic, shrugging her shoulders.  "Fine, if you want them all to grow up with bad taste, that's on _all_ of you." 

She cuts The Smiths off, and switches to The New Radicals,  _You Get What You Give_.  This is apparently closer to the counselors' collective heart, and it earns an enthusiastic cheer of instant recognition.  

_Wake up, kids, we've got the dreamer's disease..._

This dancing feels more like the kind done at a concert, arms held aloft, rhythmic swaying quickly turning into full blown jumping.  They start to beckon the campers back on the dance floor, and they come running, most obviously not recognizing the song but drawn to the infectious music anyway.  Piper and Nicky's kids flock to them happily, and they end up in a circle of twelve year olds, shimmying and spinning and, at one point, moronically fist pumping.  The campers, encouraged by their college age counselors' complete abandon, manage to drop that preteen self-consciousness and just have fun.  Everywhere Piper looks there are huge smiles, right on the edge of laughter if not all the way over.

It feels like pure, utter joy.

 

* * *

 

The kids have two final activities in the morning, then lunch, and then two hours for packing, goodbyes and final cabin inspections before the parents start to show up.  Piper and Nicky are pretty much confined to their cabin, checking under bunks and helping zip overstuffed suitcases. Most exhausting, though, is dealing with nine tearful twelve year olds, whose bond seems to have translated into a sort of domino effect of crying.

Piper's swept up in the sentimentality, sad to see the kids go, glad for their earnest promises to write her letters to let her know how it goes with that boy or this soccer team.  When the last kid is finally signed out and gone, she and Nicky exchange a look.

"I'm actually pretty sad," Piper admits.

Nicky grins at her, clamping a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.  "We're empty nesters now, Chapman.  All the way until tomorrow night.  But cheer up. Tonight's one of the two best nights of the whole fucking summer."

"When's the other?" 

"The night after the second batch of kids leave.  Obviously."

 

* * *

 

After an hour spread across the gym filling out paperwork on each camper, Gloria and Red take the counselors out to dinner.  It's strange to be outside the bubble of camp, and Piper ends up at the opposite end of the sprawling table from Alex, simply by virtue of the hastily put together carpools and their staggered arrival at the restaurant.

But it's still fun, refreshingly relaxing.  With great amusement, Poussey tells her about Ben coming by the cabin before he left, braving Girl Territory to tell Alex goodbye, and assure her that he was coming back next summer and make sure their engagement was still on.

They get dropped off in front of the cabins, and Gloria paces in front of them delivering a perfunctory lecture about conducting themselves as respectably as they would if the kids were still watching, her lips twitching like she's fighting a skeptical sneer.  

 

* * *

 

They gather in their usual circle on the grass , but for the first time, the boys, not having to worry about abandoning campers up the hill, come down and join them.  They come armed with grocery bags full of liquor bottles and full cases of beer, not even bothering with the water bottle pretense.  

Piper, sitting between Nicky and Janae on the grass, eyes the alcohol warily as drinks begin to make their way around the circle.  "Shouldn't we be a little more subtle than this?"

"Relax, Chapman," Nicky says.  "No one's coming around tonight, believe me.  It's our one night without kids, they expect a certain amount of debauchery.  It's tradition."  She accepts a bottle of tequila from Maritza and takes a generous pull before offering it to Piper with a grin.  "Besides, they can't possibly replace all of us by tomorrow night."

Convinced with that logic, Piper shrugs and accepts the proffered bottle.  Her eyes dart sideways and inadvertently lock with Alex's; she's directly across the circle, and she grins when Piper catches her eye, lifting her beer bottle in a silent cheers.  Piper bites back a smile that's suddenly threatening to take over her whole face, and raises her drink in return.

It takes less than twenty minutes to get everyone buzzed enough to agree to Spin the Bottle. There have only been two real couples to emerge from the summer so far: Daya and John Bennett, and Maria and the tall male counselor who hardly speaks, but whose eleven year old campers obviously adored him. Still, even the four of them easily agree to the game.

It's a fun, harmless idea in theory: they're young and drunk enough to enjoy the game, but old enough not to make a huge deal over kissing.  

In _theory_.

But they haven't gone all halfway around the circle before Piper's squirming with discomfort and sympathy...and she hasn't even had to kiss anyone yet.  

But it's the way Lorna spun to land on some counselor named Christopher - she'd looked ecstatic, he'd looked resigned, and Nicky had looked like a kid who lost a carnival game.  It's the way Taystee and Poussey had such dissonant expressions on their face, both before and after the too quick kiss, the first time they'd ever seemed out of sync.  It's the way Daya landed on the tall, loud counselor with the wispy beginnings of a mustache trying to manfully suggest he's further from adolescence than he actually is - he'd been far too enthusiastic with the kiss, pulling Daya back when she started to move away, and for a second Bennett had looked like he might genuinely vomit.  

In general, Piper's rethinking the wisdom of choosing this game.  But then Alex's turn comes, and Piper decides to reserve judgment on that.

Alex leans out to grab the empty tequila bottle in the center of the circle, craning her neck to narrow her gaze across the circle.  It's getting hard to tell in the dark, but Piper's pretty sure Alex winks at her.  Alex gives the bottle a good spin, and hope makes Piper's blood run faster as she silently wings a prayer to wind resistance or velocity or fate or whatever goddamn force controls where that bottle stops.  

It stops on Nicky.  Just beside her, not two inches difference, but still unmistakably Nicky, who gives Alex a leering grin and says, "Oh, yeah, you and me, Vause."  

They meet in the center of the circle and kiss enough to draw the appreciative whoops and catcalls of the males in the crowd (not, to be fair, that it takes much), and they clearly don't hate it, don't mind it at all, and Piper hates this,  _hates_ it, but for some reason she can't make herself look away, can only stare and feel just like she did that day she'd inhaled lake water mistakenly into her lungs.  

Soon Nicky slouches back to her spot beside Piper on the grass, but Piper doesn't look at her.  She feigns extreme interest in Flaca's spin, watches as she lands on Maritza.  They kiss the way _just_   _friends_ do, barely able to keep it up for more than a few seconds before dissolving into giggles.  

Alex and Nicky hadn't kissed like that.  Alex and Nicky hadn't giggled.

Piper gets her first participation in the game when Suzanne's spin lands on her.  She hears Nicky stifle a laugh, and doesn't even dignify her with a look, just moves gamely to meet Suzanne in the middle.  She has to be the one to end the kiss, and she does it fairly quickly.  Piper can't help but glance over; Alex is laughing at her, and that pisses her off because maybe that says it all: Piper wanted to scream watching  _her_  kiss someone else.  Alex thinks it's fucking hilarious.

It's getting close to their section of the circle, and soon it's Nicky's turn, just one away from Piper's.  Nicky spins with two hands, unnecessary force.

It fucking lands on fucking Alex.  Fucking  _again_.

Before they even do anything there are cheers.  Someone, some _boy_ , yells out, "Gotta up the ante the second time!  That's the rule!"

Piper's clenching her teeth together so hard her jaw aches.  This time she doesn't watch, but it's enough just to know it's happening, just to hear how enthusiastic the reaction is from the crowd, how long it goes on.  She starts thinking that maybe Alex wasn't looking at  _her_ all night (all week, all _month_ ), that she'd made a mistake...after all, it's dark and she's drunk and Nicky's been right beside her.  She starts thinking maybe Nicky's interest in Lorna is just for fun, that whatever unspoken  _Thing_ she's thought she felt between her and Alex all summer was all in her head.

Her stupid, naive, apparently somewhat gay, head.

She's thinking so hard she doesn't notice that Nicky's back in her spot until someone says, "Hey, Piper, it's your go."

"Huh?  Oh..." Everyone's watching her expectantly.  "Pass."

It just slips out, determinedly casual, but she's assaulted with _boo_ 's anyway.  Beside her, Nicky thunks her on the arm.  "Don't be the downer, Chapman, just spin the fucking thing."

"Yeah, Pipes."  Alex's voice, pitched with a low note almost like a  _dare_ , from across the circle.  This time she's  _definitely,_ no question, looking at Piper.  "Take your chances."

Almost on autopilot, Piper reaches for the bottle and spins.  

Wind resistance or velocity or fate or whatever the fuck finally tips in her favor.

Piper's eyes track straight from the mouth of the bottle to look at Alex.  Her lips are curled in a tiny, smug smirk.  Like she somehow knew this would happen.  Piper eases toward the center of the circle, waiting, but Alex doesn't move to meet her.  Just arches an eyebrow, licks her lips, and crooks a beckoning finger in Piper's direction.  

God  _damn_.

There's a low chorus of  _oooh_ 's at the gesture, but as Piper continues the full diameter of the circle, the others are already fading into the background.  They're hazy peripheral vision, unimportant, unseen.  Alex is a finish line.  Alex is what matters.

Piper ends up on her knees between Alex's sprawled legs, and there's a heartbeat of a pause before they kiss when Alex just _looks_ at her, eyes gleaming in a knowing sort of way, her smile seeming to say  _I told you so._

Then she takes Piper's face in her hands.  Her mouth is hot and wanting as it covers Piper's, and _God_ , Alex kisses like a sweet devouring.  Piper's hands are frantic, moving from hair to face to neck then skimming low, gripping the front of Alex's shirt, holding on, trying to stay steady.  There are noises, the audience is reacting, but who cares, they're still background, still white static and nothing that matters.

When they finally pull away, Piper's almost forgotten why and how this happened, until Alex laughs throatily and whispers, "Too bad it's not Seven Minutes in Heaven, huh?"

Next to Alex, Poussey snorts and mutters under her breath, "Wasn't far off."

When Piper returns, dazed, to her original place in the circle, Nicky claps a hand on her shoulder.  "How you doin' there, champ?"

Piper slides a glance at her bunkmate.  Nicky looks really fucking amused.   _Way_ too amused to be secretly hooking up with, or even just pining for, Alex.

Running her tongue slowly over her numb, swollen lips, Piper meets Alex's gaze across the circle.  She tips a smile in Piper's direction, practically shooting sparks.

It's  _possible_ Piper sometimes overthinks things.   

 

* * *

 

Some people want to play another round, but there's more dissent than support, and Piper's more than happy to quit while she's ahead (there's technically no way to really  _win_ Spin the Bottle, but.  She totally won Spin the Bottle). The whole group, with what's left of the alcohol in tow, stumbles down to the lake and gathers around the fire pits.  Someone gets a campfire going, and some forward thinking individual who thought to brought S'more supplies starts passing them out.  Piper sits next to Nicky on one of the low to the ground benches, feeling irrationally guilty for her admittedly silent bitterness toward her bunkmate during the game, and can't contain her delighted smile when Alex comes to sit in front of them, leaning back against Piper's legs.  Piper rests her forearms on Alex's shoulder's, playing absently with her hair, and Nicky rolls her eyes at them but not like she really minds.

It's fun around the campfire, the conversation loud and laughing and drunk, but Piper's just content to let the sense of good will wash over her, let the conversation work its way into a pleasant buzzing of noise, with her just quiet and enjoying to weight of Alex against her shins, the softness of her hair wound around Piper's fingers.  

Alex is quiet, never even turning around to talk.  She accepts a pulled apart wire hanger with marshmallows lined on the end, holds it over the flames until the outside is on fire.  She carefully pulls one off, then bends the hanger carefully back over her shoulder, offering one to Piper.  She does the same with whatever liquor is passed their way, and Piper drinks whatever Alex puts into her hands.  It makes this easier, makes her feel less crazy for how comfortable she feels.  Alex plays with her hands sometimes, both their fingers marshmallow sticky.

Piper rests her chin on the top of Alex's head and stares into the fire, eyes open but unfocused. She has no idea how long it's been when Poussey, from across the circle, yells, "Hey, Alex."  Piper snaps to attention, attention triggered just by her name, in time to sees Poussey covertly dangling a bag of weed between her knees.

Alex nods, then swivels around, leaning on Piper's thighs.  "I'm gonna go smoke for a few minutes.  Want to come?"

Piper considers it, mostly because having her hands out of range of Alex isn't particularly appealing, but eventually she shakes her head.  Right now she's a pleasant kind of dizzy, the kind that feels as much like happiness as inebriation, but she's worried if she actually stands up that might change.

Alex nods.  "Back soon."

She and Poussey head off to the edge of the woods.  Piper watches her retreat, and then turns to the side to say something to Nicky before noticing for the first time the bench beside her is vacant.  

Taking in her surroundings for the first time in awhile, Piper looks around the circle; about half the counselors seem to be engaged in a game of Never Have I Ever.  There are a few couples, stretched over benches or even just the ground, making out furiously.

Including Nicky and Lorna, who are perched on one of the higher benches, Lorna straddling Nicky's lap.  Piper has no idea how that developed within the last hour, but a smile splits her face, for once genuinely and unselfishly happy for them.

With her own bench to herself now, Piper stretches out across it, flat on her back, staring dreamily up at the stars, living off that kiss.  

She may have drifted off to sleep when she hears Nicky yell at her, "Chapman!  Get up, get your ass in the lake."  

"Hmmm?"  Piper jerks into alertness, sitting up to fast.  It takes her a second to take in the scene around her.  Piles of clothes are being shed and stacked on benches.  In the distance, she can already hear squeals and splashes.  She looks around for Alex without success.  

Nicky's standing over her in a bra and her shorts, T-shirt balled in her hands, her lips swollen and smeared with red lipstick and triumph.  "Skinny dipping!"  

Piper averts her eyes automatically, not only from Nicky but from everyone shedding layers around her.  "Drunken swimming?  Are you serious?"

"As a fuckin' heart attack.  It's tradition!"  

"I'm starting to think that's just what you say to convince me to do things."

"Yeah, Chapman, you caught me," Nicky rolls her eyes.  "All summer's been leading to this...me getting your goddamn clothes off."  

"Niiiiichols!"  Lorna's singsong voice floats from somewhere in the direction of the lake.  

Nicky grins.  "That's my cue." 

Piper rubs her eyes.  The fire pit area is emptying out, and she turns toward the lake, surveying her options.  It's dark, the moon only a sliver, the fire burned out, and all she can see are silhouettes leaping off the peir, heads and shoulders bobbing in the water.  As she watches, Nicky high kicks her shorts away from her ankle, letting them land somewhere in the grass.  She pauses at the pier next to Lorna, presumably shedding her underwear, then the two of them go leaping off the edge.

For the first time, she notices a pile of clothes at the end of her bench, just next to her feet: a V-neck, denim shorts and, perched carefully on top, black glasses.

Piper gets somewhat shakily to her feet, muttering curses under her breath but suddenly unable to stop smiling, and pulls her shirt off, unbuttons her shorts and lets them drop, and finally, because fuck it, why wait, shedding her bra and underwear.  

Naked, laughing, some dim sober corner of her brain marveling at the fact that she's even doing this, Piper sprints toward the pier, like a little kid running down a hill, momentum without control.  Halfway there she realizes she's still in flip flops - no underwear, but yes shoes - and kicks them off in opposite directions, nearly falling when she discards the left one.  The pier is littered with bras and boxers and thongs, it's a funny sight, too bad they won't still be here in the daylight, someone should really take a photograph.  Piper gets to the edge, yells  _fuck_ for no apparent reason, and aims at one of the few empty spots in the water.

She submerges, lake water thrumming around her ears, instantly swallowing the sounds of laughter and yelps.  The water is too warm to be sobering, which is an immediate relief, temperature wise, but probably not great in terms of safety.  Pipers feet hit the sandy, muddy bottom and she propels herself back to the surface.

It's chaos up there, splashes and yelling and too many conversations to follow.  Piper feels good, light and unencumbered, but it also feels like the slosh of alcohol around her brain is working directly against the shifting lake water.  She swims closer to the shore, until she's only shoulder deep in the water and can plant her feet more firmly on the bottom.

She feels instantly safer, more steady.  She can pick out distinct pockets of activity now.  At least eight or nine voices are participating in a loud, drunken rendition of  _Bitch_ by Meredith Brooks.  She can see a circle of people shaped shadows who have, unwisely, brought beer into the lake with them.  Closer to the shore or pier are a smattering of couples, tangled together, more still and silent than the groups. 

Piper stays where she is for five, ten, fifteen minutes, letting it all drift over her, occasionally ducking under the water, liking the suddenness of the silence, the warped, wavering view of the sky through a sheen of water.  She's standing again, neck deep in the water, when a hand closes around her ankle and Piper screams.

Alex rockets to the surface in front of her, laughing and shimmering.  "Thank  _God_ ," she says.  "That was gonna be really fucking awkward if that wasn't you."  She points to her face, vision unassisted.  "It's been a very difficult search.  This is hard-won."  

"And did you go through it all just to scare me half to death?"

Her smile opening up completely, Alex moves a little closer, the pitch of her voice dropping.  "Not exactly."

Like she's swept by some nonexistent current, she moves against Piper, their legs bracketing under the water, Alex's hands slowly climbing the ladder of Piper's ribcage, climbing up and up and up and moving over to her bare breasts.  She should probably be self-conscious, nervous, but she isn't, not at all, it's like whatever's happening below the water doesn't count, can't be anything but okay, can't possibly be too fast.  Alex tilts her head down, her eyes hooded and glowing, lantern eyes, and for the first time Piper's brain, inebriated it may be, manages to articulate what it is she's been reading in Alex's gaze all summer:  _promises_.  

Promises being at last fulfilled as their lips find each other, eager and exploring.  Alex tastes like weed and marshmallows and fire, slightly singed at the edges.  Piper thinks of that feeling at the dance, the unencumbered joy of the music and the dancing, but that had nothing on this, this is like she's swallowed pure euphoria, like stars could be falling into the lake around them and oh God she's waxing lyrical, must be drunker than she thought, but who cares when this feels so damn good.

A thrill sings its way up Piper's spine as she realizes the summer's only halfway over, that she can still have four miraculous weeks of this.   

 

* * *

 

She wakes up Sunday morning with a hangover - a  _serious business_ hangover, not like the summer's other 'remedied with a shower and/or interaction with children' hangovers - and no immediate memory of how she got back to her cabin, to find Nicky haphazardly stuffing all her clothes into duffel bags.

"What are you doing?"  Piper mumbles, keeping half of her face pressed against the pillow.

Nicky glances over and grins.  "Well, good fuckin' morning sunshine."  She zips the duffel she's holding and tosses it unceremoniously in a pile by the doorway.  "It's been real, Chapman, but our beautiful partnership is coming to an end.  I'm moving out."

"Wait, what?"  More awake now, Piper sits, blinking at Nicky in confusion.  "Aren't you staying?"

"Course I'm staying.  Why would I ever leave this paradise?  It's the mid-summer partner swap."

"Oh.  I didn't know we did that."

"It's not exactly required.  But as long as we tell them who's with who by the time the miniatures get here tonight, the powers that be don't give a shit."  

"So..."  Piper frowns, getting the picture.  "You just... _wanted_ to change partners?"

Nicky glances over and laughs at her.  "Jesus, Chapman, you don't have to  _pout_ at me over it.  It's not personal...I'm moving in with Morello."

" _Ooooh_.  Got it."  Piper grins, feeling instantly better, and tries to remember who Lorna's been paired with.  "So...is Daya moving in?"

"Nah, Daya wants to be in Oak."

"Why Oak?"

"Not sure.  It's the cabin on the end, I guess...she probably wants to shorten Bennett's nightly sprint of shame back into Testosterone Territory."  

"So who's leaving Oak?"  

"Taystee."

"So Taystee's coming here?"

Nicky sighs, finally pausing in her packing to give Piper a pitying look.  "You're so close, Chapman.  One more try."  When Piper just stares at her blankly, Nicky smirks.  "Taystee and Poussey wanna work together.   _So_...."  She spins her hand in a  _catch up faster_ sort of gesture. 

"So..."  Piper stops talking abruptly, finally getting it.  Heat floods her cheeks, eyes darting almost instinctively to the bed Nicky's been occupying for the past four weeks.

Nicky's laughing at her again.  " _There_ ya go.  You and Vause.  Goddamn dream team."

"Is, uh...is this all because of last night?"

"No way, moron.  You think the mid-summer partner swap is built in a day?  We've been planning this shit for the past week."  She winks.  "Somehow I don't think you'll miss me."

 

 

 


	2. Session Two

Piper takes a long, hot shower, trying to wash away the morning's hangover, then dons the Staff shirt required for greeting the kids and parents today.  It's quiet and still outside every time she glances out the window, save for the occasional lone counselor dragging their stuff from one cabin to another.

Piper's lying on her bed in front of a box fan when Alex strolls in with an oversized, unzipped duffel and a lazy grin, clear eyed and energetic like she's just too goddamn  _cool_ for a hangover.

"I checked out the campers' room," she says by way of greeting.  "No name tags this session?  Gotten lazy already?" 

"Not lazy," Piper says pointedly, unable to stop a grin from spreading across her face.  " _Preoccupied._ "

Alex flashes a self-satisfied grin, throwing her stuff in the corner, then struts out to fetch more bags. She doesn't once confirm that Piper's okay with the switch, doesn't even really acknowledge it, just smiles like a person whose plan is working out exactly she'd intended.

 

* * *

  

Piper feels bizarrely exposed, meeting the parents and campers with Alex  _right there_ , as if every adult leaving their child under Alex and Piper's care will be able to take one look at their child's counselors and know exactly what they did to each other in the lake last night, not to mention what will likely be going on next door to the kids' room for the rest of the summer. 

But Alex is charming as hell, of course, and Piper, if a little flustered, at least looks wholesome enough to reassure the few uptight parents side-eyeing Alex's tattoos.  

They've got only eight kids this session, twelve year olds again, the age apparently consistent with the cabin.  When the parents take off, they have a brief get-to-know-you huddle, then walk to kids to dinner, followed by the opening program that concludes in camp wide recreation, followed by the nightly campfire, and Piper starts to realize this essentially means she and Alex will have eight pre-teen chaperones with them at least 75% of the time.

It means that, in the daylight at least, nothing much has changed. They're still all silent, lingering eye contact, still primarily _look, don't touch_ ,  although now it feels like they're sharing a secret, instead of Alex just holding one hostage, biding her time for the reveal.  

That first night, no one gathers on the grass after Light's Out, the counselors sticking close to their cabins to monitor first night panics from the campers, as well as catch up on the sleep they'd lost the night before.  Piper and Alex sit on their front porch, chatting with Nicky and Lorna next door, swapping notes on campers, and then Alex stands, apropos of nothing, and announces she's heading to bed.

Piper follows, her pulse quickening into a nervous tattoo.  She isn't sure what to assume here; they haven't kissed all day, haven't done anything but _look_ , and maybe last night was just part of the debauchery, it's not like they're  _dating_ now, but surely Alex making sure they were co-counselors means something...

Alex sheds her shorts and swaps out her Staff T-shirt for a black cami.  Piper hasn't even changed, is just sitting on her bed staring like an expectant idiot, when Alex gives her a demure smile.  "Cool if I turn the lights off?"

Piper nods, overeager, and the room goes dark, but Alex just crawls into the freshly changed sheets of what used to be Nicky's bed.  "I'm so fucking exhausted."

"Yeah," Piper echoes dumbly, feeling thrown off and confused as she fumbles around in the dark to quickly change into a tank top and pajama pants. It's entirely untrue, she's suddenly wide awake as she gets into her own bed, her nerves practically vibrating with Alex's tantalizingly close presence.

At least five agonizing minutes crawl by, as Piper lies in bed debating with herself (Is this some sort of test?  Is it her turn to initiate things?  Had she just been really fucking inept last night and now Alex has no interest?) when Alex's voice floats through the darkness, "How you doing over there?"

"Fine."  Piper winces immediately - her voice comes out tiny and strangled - and Alex laughs at her.  Piper groans, burying her face in the pillow, and suddenly her bed lurches sideways.  "Jesus!"

" _Ssssh."_ Alex, now standing over Piper, clamps a hand over her mouth, eyes dancing with mirth.  "The children are sleeping!"   She gives the bed another shove, straightening it out, then adjusts it slightly so their twin beds are evenly pushed together.  She grins, satisfied, then leans down and kisses Piper deeply, one hand caressing her cheek, the other reaching down to brace against the mattress as she subtly eases Piper down, until she's flat on her back across the two beds, Alex hovering above her, murmuring,  "Much better," against her lips.  

"You're kind of an ass," Piper whispers in relief, arching into her.

"Sorry," Alex answers, smirking, not looking or sounding like she means it as she slips a hand between Piper's legs.

 

* * *

 

Camp is built on routines.

And for the second session, Alex and Piper develop their own.

Every morning they slide the twin beds a few perfunctory inches apart, just in case the girls come in.

("It's not the lesbian thing," Alex assures Piper.  "It's that they aren't supposed to think of us as people with personal lives and urges."  Piper makes a face at that.  " _Urges_?"  It earns her a smirk.  "Don't pretend you don't have _urges,_ Pipes.  I can read your urges like a book.")  

At the nightly campfire, Piper sits in the middle of one of the benches, half of their girls flanking her sides, while Alex sits on the ground, leaning back against Piper's legs, similarly surrounded by kids.  

(None of them think anything of it when Piper plays absently with Alex's hair, or even lets her fingers draw mindless patterns against the back of Alex's neck.  And when Alex turns around with a wicked grin on the first S'mores night to messily shove a marshmallow against the corner of Piper's mouth, the girls are too busy shrieking with laughter to notice the narrow, heated look on Alex's face when she watches Piper lick it off.)

When the counselors gather in their circle on the grass, Alex has taken to stretching out with her head in Piper's lap, eyes closed half the time, like she no longer has a vested in interest in anyone or anything being discussed.  

(Sometimes she stands up with no warning, with no regard to what else is going on, mid-conversation or not, and tugs Piper into the cabin early, boo's trailing after them.  Sometimes they don't even make it outside.)

They push the beds back together every night and sleep wrapped together in spite of the summer heat and the poor cooling system of portable fans.  They wake up in the mornings, either coverless or under a single sheet, all tangled, sweaty limbs and clinging tank tops.  

(Breakfast every day comes at an ungodly hour, so it's rare they get up with much time to themselves before they have to wake the campers up, and yet Piper still loves the mornings, loves seeing Alex with her bare legs and sweaty, sleep mussed hair, glasses perched on her head as she stumbles around, muttering darkly about the camp's lack of coffee.)  

 

* * *

 

The fourth of July falls in the first week of session two, and there's a huge, chaotic cookout down by the lake.  The rec staff sends extra lifeguards to supervise the swimming areas, which takes some of the pressure off the counselors, and they send their kids into the water as soon as they finish their burgers and hot dogs, giving loud assurances that the  _wait thirty minutes after eating_ thing is a myth.

"You're not looking very patriotic," Piper admonishes after they watch their last camper go cannonballing off the pier.  She lets her eyes sweep leisurely over Alex's black bathing suit, which seems to be the only kind she brought.  

She arches an eyebrow, challenging.  "I can put my shirt back on, if you want."  

"You better not," Piper counters seriously.  "Not very responsible, if one of the kids starts to drown."

Alex smirks.  "Right, Pipes, cause I totally wouldn't jump in with my clothes on if someone was drowning."

Piper rolls her eyes.  "Just for that I'm not leaving mine on."

"That's too bad."

"And why's that?"  Piper taunts.

Alex shoves her off the pier, white tank top and all, then slips gracefully in after her, arrogant smile firmly in place.

When it gets dark, the kids are ordered out the lake, and the counselors are given two boxes of sparklers to distribute.  Piper's skeptical about the wisdom of this idea - over a hundred kids running around with wands of fire - but it's a pretty spectacle, the banks of the lake dotted with darting balls of light, the kids drawing words in thin air or shooting pretend Harry Potter spells at each other.  Piper handles the grill lighter, while Alex holds the boxes, and when their campers have all run off, Alex holds out her own with an expectant expression.  Light explodes between the two of them, the warm, golden glow flickering across Alex's face, two miniature reflections of the sparkler reflected in the lenses of her glasses.

It makes it really, really hard not to kiss her.

Alex seems to notice, or is maybe just having similar feelings, because she reaches out with the hand not holding the sparkler and grabs Piper by the wrist, leading her through the picnic area and beyond the fire pits and into the woods, apparently content to know their campers are somewhere in the massive crowd, where she backs Piper against a tree to kiss her.

She's got one hand on Piper's waist, and it takes a second for the sparkler to burn out so she can lift the other.  Her fingers are hot on Piper's cheek, her tongue cool from the dumb red white and blue popsicles they'd handed out earlier.  The bark is rough against Piper's spine, and she can feel dirt and leaves clinging to her bare feet and their clinging drops of lake water.  It's messy and inelegant and giddy, and it's just enough to sustain them through the next few hours, when they eventually hear Red announce into a megaphone that everyone needs to get with their counselors and they have to sprint back before they're missed.  Piper nearly collides with Taystee, who purses her lips with a suppressed smile and says, "You got a leaf in your hair, Chapman."  

They find their kids already gathered together on the lake's grassy banks, and a quick headcount confirms everyone's presence.  A couple of guys have been assigned firework duty, and they're on the pier on the opposite side of the lake, the one without a swimming area.  Everyone else stretches out on the lawn, exhausted and full, ready to watch.  Alex and Piper lie down beside each other, a camper snuggled against them on either side, other kids propping their heads on their counselor's thighs or shins or anywhere that could conceivably double as a pillow.  They slide glances at each other and smile, and when the first firework explodes above them, raining down purple sparks, Alex slips her fingers between Piper's, their hands hidden on the ground between their thighs.

 

* * *

 

Assigned to crafts one day, Piper lets a couple of eleven year olds teach her how to braid friendship bracelets out of cloth, yarn like material.  She makes one with red and black with the occasional strand of white and presents it to Alex when their cabin meets back up for shower time before dinner.

Alex grins when she sees it, presenting her right arm for Piper to tie it on amidst the cluster of other bracelets, all gifts from the campers.  "Were you getting jealous?"  

"A little," Piper teases, tying the bracelet snugly in place.  "Mostly just wanted to improve my friendship bracelet technique."

" _Friendship_ bracelet, huh?"  Alex tilts her head skeptically, and Piper blushes.  She's saved having to qualify the term by one of the girls coming up and grabbing her hand, swinging it idly to get her attention.

"Hey, Pipes?"

Before she can respond, Alex rounds on the girl, a freckled redhead named Jenna who'd been the first of this session to beg for a winged eyeliner tutorial.  Scowling in mock offense, Alex protests, "Hey, copycat!  You can't call her that!" 

Jenna gives Alex a challenging look, used to her joke scolding by now.  "How come?"

"Cause that's just  _my_ nickname for Piper."

"How come  _you_ get a special nickname?" 

Alex turns to Piper with an innocent, beauty pageant smile.  "Because we're such good friends.  Aren't we, _Pipes_?"

Her face almost definitely an embarrassing shade of red, Piper acknowledges that this is true.  Jenna asserts that she and Piper are also friends, which Piper also agrees with.  The pointless argument goes on for about five minutes before Piper finally figures out what Jenna wants - to collect on an earlier promise to show her and some of the others how to French braid.

Piper agrees and, to get Alex back, tells Jenna casualy, "Yeah, tell everybody who wants to watch to come over...I'll show you on Alex."

Alex twists around instantly, already shaking her head.  "Yeah, no, I don't do braids."

Piper shrugs and shoots her an innocent smile.  " _Al_.  It's for the children."  

 

* * *

 

"Is Lily alright?"  Piper asks as they walk out of the mess hall, five minutes after observing Alex hang back with their shyest camper, who'd shown up for breakfast red eyed and even quieter than usual.

"I guess so.  I'd say it's just routine homesickness, nothing to worry about, except she's still not really making friends."

Piper feels a swoop a guilt in her gut, angry at herself for not seeing this as more of a problem.

Lily's a sweet, slightly spacey kid, naturally quiet and has yet to hit puberty particularly hard.  None of which would be a fatal detriment, if it wasn't for the fact that she's the only new camper in the cabin, the other seven girls having come up through camp together for the last two years.   

"Right.  So what can we do?"  She's just wondering aloud, not trying to put the whole problem on Alex, but Alex grins knowingly anyway, glancing around before lifting the bill of Piper's olive green baseball hat out of the way to kiss her, fast and soft.

"Don't you worry, kid.  I can feel a flash of genius coming."  

That night Alex waves Piper and the others ahead when the nightly campfire burns out and the camp begin to disperse.  Piper glances back over her shoulder, watching Alex sit down on the bench beside Lily, elbows propped on her knees, a conversational expression on her face.

It's been twenty minutes when they finally get back to the cabin, just in time for the nightly circle, the High/Low game where they share the best and worst moments from the day.

When it gets to Lily, last in the circle, she stares at the floor, speaking soft and fast, "My high point was...probably...I guess...doing slip 'n slide this morning.  That was fun.  And my low point..."  She hesitates, not unusual; Lily always stumbles over her Low answer, as though it's hard to isolate just one moment or problem.  But tonight seems different, like she's not unsure, just hesitant.  She glances at Alex, who nods subtly.  "And my low point was when Nicky and Lorna's cabin beat us at dodge ball."

That had happened tonight, at camp wide rec, and while Piper seriously doubts Lily minded much, a few of the other girls murmur their assent.

"I don't know about you guys," Alex puts in casually.  "But I thought they were kinda _jerks_ about it."  Piper has to bite back a smile, as she always does when Alex very deliberately doesn't curse.  

The girls nod and agree vehemently with this assessment, someone declaring, "They're  _totally_ sore winners."

Alex nods solemnly.  "They really were."   Piper suppresses an eyeroll; Alex is conveniently leaving out that the reason for the trash talk between the two cabins is because of Alex and Nicky's habit of playing up a completely fabricated, but extremely intense, rivalry.  "Lily and I were talking about it after campfire, and she had a pretty crazy idea.  I don't know if you guys'll go for it."

Intrigued, the others girls look at Lily, who turns a nervous gaze at Alex.  Alex keeps her expression blank, refusing to bail her out.  Finally, Lily stammers, "I...I don't know, I was just saying...maybe we should play a prank."

This sparks some interest around the circle, and Piper grins and looks at Alex.  "Like in _The Parent Trap_?"

The interest ignites.  

"YES!"

"Like put syrup on their cabin!"

"Or put the beds on the roof."

Alex looks completely, genuinely blank at the movie reference.  "Uh...sure.  Lil, didn't you say you had one?"  Lily looks at Alex again, like she's not sure what she means.  "A prank idea?"

"Oh.  Right."  Lily looks slightly overwhelmed with all the attention on her, and Piper's glad this wasn't her plan, because she probably would've swept in to help her out too soon, robbing the girl of the chance to explain.  "So when my brother was at, like, boy scout camp, he told me about this thing they did..."

She explains, confidence gaining as she goes.  The other girls are hanging on her every word, while Piper tries to catch Alex's eye across the circle, but she's watching Lily with a curious expression as though she's hearing all this for the first time.  

By the time the plan's been presented - in shockingly well thought out detail - the girls are practically beside themselves with giggles.  

"Piper, are we allowed to do it?" One of the girls asks, and a visible wave of worry ripples across the others' expressions.  It makes Piper feel vaguely like the un-fun parent.

"Oh, I don't think we have a choice," she says seriously, provoking immediate, delighted relief.

Alex lifts an eyebrow. "Tomorrow night?  All those in favor say aye." 

There's a unanimous, gleeful chorus of ayes.  

"And the plan doesn't leave this cabin.  No telling anybody.  All those in favor?" 

"Aye!"

" _And_ I move we make Lily prank captain.  All in favor?"

There's another resounding round of ayes that leaves Lily practically beaming.  There's a tugging in Piper's chest, and she smiles softly at Alex across the circle.  Alex winks at her.  "Alright, troops, better rest up so everyone's on alert for our attack."

A few minutes later, they step outside the room, closing the door behind them, and Piper immediately seizes the front of Alex's shirt, kissing her until she stumbles back against the door, hard, and they both freeze, waiting for a reaction from the kids.  When nothing happens, Alex smiles and winds a strand of Piper's hair around her finger.  "What was that for?"

Piper gives her a look.  "You _know_."  She kisses her again, gently.  "You're kind of amazing."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Pipes.  I was just really disappointed a prank war didn't take off during the first session.  Had to take matters into my own hands." 

"Mmm- _hmmm_ ," Piper hums skeptically, leaning in again.  They can hear suppressed giggles and the hiss of whispers on the other side of the door, and Piper feels a thrill of illicitness curl around her spine.  

"Wanna go outside?"  Alex whispers eventually.

Reluctantly, Piper nods.  "They'll give us shit if we skip again."

   

* * *

 

Their girls are hyped up the whole next day, even though the plan can't be put into motion until after dinner.  Alex insists on a huddle after breakfast, reminding them in an exaggerated, stern whisper not to breathe a word of the plan to  _anyone._  She puts Lily, as captain, in charge of policing this, and the girl nods seriously, happy to accept the duty.

The planning requires a good deal of coordinating, and a good deal of sneaking under Red and Gloria's radar, but luckily Lily - or, rather, let's be honest, Alex - had thought through every detail.  

The night's activity is a movie in the gym and, very subtly, under the guise of a bathroom run, Alex escorts half the cabin out of the gym.  They're gone nearly an hour, and then trickle back in one at a time.  

Later, the full camp migrates from the gym to the fire pits, and Piper sneaks off with the other half of their cabin to finish the job.  They can't join the campfire late without attracting too much attention, so they wait it out in the cabin until the others show up. 

The girls huddle together immediately, swapping stories and basking in their triumph.  Piper raises her eyebrows at Alex.  "Anyone notice?"

"Janae asked where half our cabin went, I said you were mediating a conflict.  We stayed away from Nicky and Lorna, doubt they even saw."

Piper grins, caught up in the excitement, and she and Alex high five, then turn and offer their hands to the girls to slap.  

By virtue of the plan, they don't change into pajamas, and the nightly circle is essentially useless.  No one has a low point, and everyone's high point is yet to come.  The girls spend the whole time begging to go on outside, and most gratifying is how Lily's just as much a part of things as everyone else.

"Can we  _go_?"  Someone, could be any of them, asks for the hundredth time.

"Guys, if Piper's team did their job right, they aren't gonna notice anything until Light's Out."  The accuracy of the statement does nothing to assuage their impatient, and finally, Alex and Piper exchange glances and agree to get going. 

They move in a giggly, huddled mass across the lawn.  No one else is outside yet, it still being about ten minutes away from Light's Out.  They end up hiding in a patch of trees, as far away as they can get from the cabins while still having Nicky and Lorna's in their eye line.  

Piper keeps an eye on her watch.  When the official Light's Out time hits, she whispers loudly, "Make sure we're ready to run, guys."  

"And cheer," Alex adds.  "I wanna hear _really_ evil cheering."  

It seems to take forever, but when it happens, it's fast, a burst of chaos and activity.  Nick, Lorna, and all nine of their thirteen year olds spill onto the porch, looking around wildly.  It would almost be funny to see them try to figure out a way forward, but they don't get much chance before Piper and Alex's campers burst into loud, slightly evil, war whoops, and take off in the opposite direction.  

"It's them!"  Nicky yells.  "After 'em, kids!"

Alex leads the group in a mad sprint through the woods, Piper bringing up the back, urging stragglers along.  They end up at the top of a hill that leads down to the extra playing fields, where they'd stored several stacks of the mattresses from Nicky and Lorna's cabins.  

"Everyone grab one..."  Alex orders, distributing mattresses and glancing over her shoulder.  "Lily, remember you're telling us when to go, make sure they're all here to see..."

A few of the kids awkwardly stretch their arms to hold the twin plastic mattresses in front of their bodies, while others put them straight on the ground and stand a few feet back, everyone teetering in a horizontal line at the hill's peak.

They hear them before they see them, the crunching of leaves and cracking branches, the massive pounding of footsteps. Alex nudges Lily.  "Get a visual, Captain!"

Lily turns awkwardly, her cheek pressed against the back of her mattress, gaze toward the woods.  When Nicky and Lorna, campers at their heels, burst out the underbrush, she yells, "GO!"

The girls run and leap, sledding on the mattresses down the hill, letting out high pitched, roller coaster screams.  Piper bursts out laughing at the looks of utter confusion on the other campers' face.

Lorna pauses, face scrunched in confusion as she assesses the situation, and then she yells out, not seeming at all certain about the strategy,  "After 'em, ladies!" 

She leads a group of the kids sprinting down the hill.  Piper sets her mattress on the ground, about the take off after them, when she hears Alex yell out from behind her.  

Piper turns in time to see Nicky wrench a mattress away from Alex.  "Trying to fuckin' start something, Vause.  That's a _mistake_!"

Alex smirks, relinquishing her tentative hold on mattress and taking off toward Piper instead.  "Incoming Pipes!"

Piper barely has time to stretch herself across the twin mattress before Alex crashes onto it beside her, the momentum pushing it over the crest of the hill.  

She digs her fingers desperately into the corners of the mattress to stay on, letting out an involuntary, scream of a laugh as the wind rushes over her face.  Alex is half on top of her, gripping the neck of her shirt, one leg slung over hers, elbow digging painfully into Piper's back.

The ground flattens out and the mattress slows but doesn't stop, and Piper loses her grip and rolls off, pulling Alex with her, and the mattress flips.

She ends up pinned on the grass under Alex, both of them laughing breathlessly, grinning inanely at each other.  Alex licks her lips and arches an eyebrow, teasing, and it's  _almost_ enough to make Piper forget they're surrounded by screeching, victorious preteens, until suddenly Nicky, having taken flight on her own mattress, crashes against them. 

"Hi, platonic professional co-counselors," she says pleasantly.  "Hope you're both prepared for the war you just started." 

 

* * *

 

They march back to their cabin in two triumphant, single file lines, leaving Nicky and Lorna's kids to drag their own mattresses back.  

The plan had gone off without a hitch.  During the movie, Alex and half the kids had stolen the mattresses and, in two trips, dragged them down to the hill to wait.  While skipping the campfire, Piper and the others had remade the beds, using propped up kayak paddles or suitcases with sheets pulled over them to simulate, at a cursory glance, the bulk of the mattresses.

As Alex had explained to Piper, it wasn't the best prank she knew, in terms of damage to the targeted party, but the mattress sledding that ended it made it the most appealing.

"It's fun for us," Alex had said.  "And kind of a  _fuck you_ to them.  Win, win."

It takes the girls nearly an hour to calm down, and Piper gives them a serious talking to about being vigilant for retaliation that Alex seems to find very amusing.  They eventually go outside to join the other counselors, and the two of them regale the others with their triumph, to a standing ovation from everyone but Nicky and Lorna.  Alex fails to mention the motivation behind initiating the prank war, even though Piper fervently believes it's the sort of above and beyond counseloring that they could all learn from.  But whatever, she apparently doesn't want to brag.  

Everyone begins to drift to bed, and somehow they end up as the last people on the lawn, both stretched out on their backs, Piper's head on Alex's stomach while her hand swims lazily through Piper's hair.  It's late, but it's also so nice out, with heat lightning splitting the corner of the sky and the chirp of crickets humming in the background.

"That was really smart of you," Piper murmurs after awhile. "Letting Lily be the one to come up with the plan, putting her in charge."

"Mmmm," Alex mumbles indifferently.  

"I think it's really great that you went out of your way to help her. And that you knew just how to do it. Just like you were with Ben."

Alex's hand goes still in Piper's hair. "It's our _job_ , Piper."

There's a razor's edge to the words, the first time Piper's heard that from Alex, and it silences her instantly.  She lets a few minutes tick by, until Alex's fingers resume their ministrations, and then asks, "Did you go to camp as a kid?"

Alex makes a snorting sound as though Piper had asked if she spent her childhood summers traveling around Europe. " _No_." After a moment, Piper feels Alex's chest heave with a sigh. "But if I had, yes, I would have been the kid who couldn't make friends.  If that's what you're trying to figure out."

Piper's suddenly glad she doesn't have to look Alex in the eye. It takes her awhile to say, quietly, "I can't even imagine that."

Alex lets out a laugh that just barely nudges against bitterness. "Well trust me. Because that was my life until pretty much the end of high school." She pauses. "If you'd met me at camp, or in third grade, or _whenever_ , anywhere but here...you'd have been one of the kids making fun of my clothes."

"No," Piper says immediately, rolling over to prop her elbow on the ground, looking down at Alex earnestly. "Never." As though proving the point, she worries the material of Alex's shirt, gray with the logo of a band Piper's never heard of and the sleeves cut off, between her thumb and forefinger. "I was never one of the cool kids, anyway. Too much of a goody two shoes."

At that, Alex grins. "Oh, yeah? Maybe I could have corrupted you."

Piper smiles back, relieved she's been forgiven for pushing, that Alex has easily waded out of whatever pool of bad memories Piper forcibly pushed her into. Bracing her forearms on either side of Alex on the grass, Piper kisses her deep and then whispers, "Still time for that."

They make out on the lawn until Poussey walks by and tells them to get a room, and Alex remembers that they have one.

 

* * *

 

They don't have to wait long for the next battle of the prank war.  

Piper had reminded all the kids to keep an eye out that night during the group activities or the campfire, to monitor any moment Nicky or Lorna's campers slip away, but they don't even make it to dinner.  They'd clearly snuck some of their kids out of morning activities, because when Alex and Piper and their girls return to the cabin after lunch for the hour of Rest Time before afternoon activities, they find almost every loose item in the cabin, beds included, wrapped tightly in saran wrap.  A second wave of unpleasantness comes when some of the girls swap out shoes to suit their afternoon schedule, and find that every pair they'd left behind is full of toothpaste.

"Oh, it is  _on_ ,"  Piper declares grimly, staring in distaste at her toothpaste soaked socks.  

The girls let out a chorus of high itched  _ew_ 's, but Alex immediately shushes them, gesturing for everyone to huddle up in the center of the room.  "Ssssh, they're probably standing outside trying to hear us.  The best part of a prank is getting to see the reactions, and they've set it up so they  _can't_ unless we  _let_ them."

The girls sober up instantly, and by the time they leave the cabin, they all wear admirably unruffled expressions, satisfied from having spent the whole of Rest Time planning their next move.

It wages over the next week, provoking other wars to break out between other cabins, but everyone knows the original, and the girls wear that knowledge with pride. The hardest part is finding times to sneak away unnoticed, and the kids have to be content with fewer participating on each prank.

They break into Lorna and Nicky's cabin armed with dental floss, and leave with a vast array of personal items dangling from the ceiling.  The next day, they're assaulted with water balloons coming out of breakfast.  They steal shoes and end up with no socks.  Box fans are filled with feathers and shreds of paper, door handles left sticky with syrup.  Occasionally there are smaller, more specifically targeted attacks:  Lily and two others spray shaving cream on a couple of Nicky and Lorna's girls following a block of swimming they all had together; once, Alex comes back from kayacking looking like a drowned cat, soaking wet in her clothes, and Piper and the girls' raucous laughter immediately fades when they learn a couple of Nicky's campers tipped her kayack during their activity.  

Piper's favorite prank means waiting a few days for spaghetti night.  They send Lily and Jenna into the mess hall ahead of everyone else, where they collect the plastic silverware already waiting, as usual, at Nicky and Lorna's table.  Piper already sweet talked the kitchen staff into insisting they're out of spares, so soon they're encouraging the whole camp to watch at their rival cabin attempts to eat pasta with their hands. 

 

* * *

 

Piper wakes up feeling cooler and less sweaty than usual, which isn't actually a good thing when she registers why: Alex is gone.

She sits up fast, straining instinctually to hear into the next room, assuming she's slept through some sort of emergency with a camper, but quickly relaxes when she hears voices filtering not from the other side of the shared bedroom wall, but through the open screen window leading onto the cabin's porch...accompanied by the slightest whiff of weed.

"...if you guys could be maybe fifteen minutes late getting back from lunch tomorrow, that'd give us time."  Nicky's voice.  "And I'll help you out on retaliation, yeah?"

"Help us out as in...access to your campfire snacks before you pass them out?"  Alex asks in response.  Piper grins, rummaging around in her overflowing suitcase for shorts, intending to go outside and partake in the peace summit.  It's gotten to the point where the girls are so vigilant and paranoid that the only way to keep the war going is by making certain, covert agreements.  

"Christ, what is with you guys and the food?" 

"Is that a no?"

"No, no, fine, it's a deal." 

"Good.  Can't promise more than fifteen minutes, though.  And the girl's are talking about setting booby traps for you guys, so be careful of dental floss across the door frames."

"Noted."  There's a pause; the smell thickens.  "Speaking of being careful, Vause..."

"What?"

"Are you?"

"Am I being careful with what?" 

"With Chapman."

Piper freezes with her shorts halfway up her thighs.  

Alex makes a faint, sarcastic sound.  "Are you asking if we're having safe sex?"

"Ha.  Just don't forget the first rule of camp."

"Don't talk about camp?"

"It's a  _bubble_.  What happens here stays here."

"It's not Vegas, Nicky."

"But the principle applies."

"And you're telling me this because...?"

"Cause I've seen the way you look at her.  And you are so fucking screwed."

"Oh, c'mon, fuck off."

"I'm serious."

" _Really?_ So you and Lorna are, what?  Just about sex?"

"Course not.  It's more than that.  But _I_ aware of the reality of the situation." 

"And what reality is that?"

"That this is great, but in a week we all go home.  And Morello goes back to being the straight girl planning her perfect future wedding to her perfect future groom."

"Oh, God, she's one of those?"

"She brought bridal magazines to _camp_.  She's also obsessed with Julia Roberts movies."

"Oh, fuck."

"I know, right?  But I guess my question is...what reality are _you_ living in?  Cause if it's the reality where Chapman takes you home to the 'burbs to introduce her family to her new girlfriend...then I gotta say, that fucking concerns me."  _  
_

"You don't know her that well."

Nicky snorts.  "I know she brought a matching set of Coach luggage to camp, and then's she's got old money debutante written all over her."

For the first time, Alex's voice hardens, syllables sharp but brittle.  "So, what?  She'd fit in better with _you_ , right?"

"Oh, hey, fuck, come on.  You know that's not what I meant.  It's not about money."  

There's a long silence.  Piper doesn't move, barley even allows herself to breathe.

Finally, Alex speaks again, distant. "I'm going to bed."

Quickly, her heart hammering, Piper moves onto the bed, sliding back under the thin sheet as Nicky asks, "Are you pissed?"  She doesn't sound particularly bothered either way, more like she's just checking their status.

"I don't know.  Mostly no."

"Then I'm mostly not sorry."  There's a pause; Piper can just imagine the bitch face Alex is giving Nicky for a comment like that.  Nicky just laughs dryly.  "Hey, if I can't talk to you like this, who will?"

"Uh-huh.  You're a fuckin' hypocrite, Nichols."

"Oh, I most definitely am."  

" _Goodnight_."

"Night."

Alex's footsteps cross the porch, the cabin door opens and closes, and Piper shuts her eyes, trying her best to keep her breathing steady and slow.  Soon, on of the mattresses dips as Alex crawls back beside her, easing carefully under the sheet and sliding against Piper.  Alex drapes an arm gingerly over Piper's waist, then sidles forward, burrowing her face into the back of Piper's neck.  Her breathing sounds sharp.  Their hands brush, and Piper can feel the soft, frayed edges of that stupid bracelet she made, the only one Alex doesn't take off.

Just like that Piper's eyes are wet, unexpectedly, and her chest constricted.  She'd be hard pressed to say exactly why; she's not so much  _happy_  or  _sad_ as simply overwhelmed, the moment suddenly thick with intangible significance.  

The word for it forms and snarls in her chest, rising in her throat but Piper claws it back because she's supposed to be asleep, because it's way too soon, because in a week they all go home and Piper isn't sure whether or not Nicky's right about her.

She is so fucking screwed.

 

* * *

 

The next morning is like every other one.   Alex groans about the time for a moment before rolling over to kiss Piper on the corner of the mouth.  She stands up, grabs her glasses, and says casually, "I went out to smoke with Nicky last night after you were asleep.  She wants us to take our time getting back from lunch.  If we do it, she'll let us mess with their campfire snacks."

If she suspects Piper was awake, hearing the rest of the conversation, she gives no indication, and Piper follows her lead, nodding easily, "We can live with that, right?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought.  Otherwise it's gonna be over soon, and the little dorks are having way too much fun with it.  Just can't let on that we've got an alliance."

"They won't suspect it."  

"'S it my turn to wake - " Piper cuts her off, lifting up on her knees on the bed and pulling Alex toward her, mouth swallowing whatever she was saying.

Alex pulls away after a moment, making an obligatory _morning breath_ sort of face, but she's smiling.  "What was that for?"

Piper shrugs, running her hands the length of Alex's arms, ending up tracing her thumb across the bracelet.  

Alex follows her gaze and lifts an eyebrow.  "Admiring your craftsmanship?"

Fumbling for a smile, Piper remembers how to do this, the easy, light banter.   "Actually I was just thinking that this sort of gift usually provokes reciprocity." 

Alex huffs out a laugh.  "Maybe I'm just feeling things out, Pipes.  Gotta figure out what level of  _friendship_ I want the bracelet to reflect."  She smirks, winks, and kisses Piper on the bow of her cheekbone before heading off to wake up the campers.

 

* * *

 

Piper ends up manning an arts and crafts activity that morning, but she's paired with Daya, which mean the actual task - painting birdhouses - is just a distraction as the kids take turns posing for her, everyone wanting a cartoon rendering of themselves like the ones Daya's campers have been wearing instead of nametags on their lanyards.  

Piper sits next to her, watching her work.  When she waves a little boy back to his birdhouse, saying she'll be finished with his tag in ten minutes, Piper asks, "How's John?" 

Daya's smile is sweet and automatic.  "He's good.  He's running kickball right now, I think."  She giggles fondly.  "He's really sweet with kids.  Such a goof, you know?"

"Hey, that's a good sign.  Being good with kids, I mean."

Daya nods, then slides an envious look at Piper.  "You're lucky.  You know, that you and Alex get to share a room." 

"Yeah."  No point in denying that; she  _feels_ lucky.  After a moment, Piper adds, "You were here last year, right?"  She's only going off the fact that Daya was originally partnered with Lorna, who, according to Nicky, was a first timer like Piper.  

"Mmm-hmm," Daya replies absently, eyes back on her drawing.  "John wasn't, though."  

"Oh."  Piper leans her elbows on the table, giving a perfunctory scan of the kids; no one seems to be flinging paint yet, so far so good.  "Were there a lot of, y'know, _couples_ last year?"

"Sorta.  A lot of people just, like, hook up.  You know.  But there are always a few."

"Do they stay together?"

Daya cuts her eyes, giving Piper a slight smirk.  "You worried?"

"Are you?"

"Nah, not really.  Our high schools play each other in football every year.  It's not like it's far."  After a moment, she glances over.  "What about you guys?"

"I...move into college like two weeks after camp ends.  So...I don't know." 

The thing is, this job was supposed to just hold Piper over for the summer.  She'd been starting to chafe under her parents roof, their oppressive rules and expectations that hadn't let up even once she got her coveted acceptance letter.  She'd just wanted to get away for a few months, earn some money, get a taste of being on her own before she made her real escape to school.

Her life wasn't supposed to change yet, but now Alex Vause has barreled into it and shaken up everything.  

 

* * *

 

She leads an afternoon hike with Bennett and Suzanne, and it's kind of a relief, low effort and participation, just walking and keeping a head count.  It leaves her mind free to run in circles, worry itself into a state of utter confusion.

At one point, she turns around on autopilot, counting the kids, and comes up with one short.  Panic knifes through her for a second, until she realizes Suzanne is missing, too.  

Still, she's worried she missed some sort of incident, so Piper yells ahead at John that she's gonna drop back and see what's up.  She walks the path in the direction they just came from, and it takes about three minutes before she finds Suzanne, hand in hand with a tiny little ten year old girl, listening with infinite patience to whatever the kid is saying about the patch of flowers they've stopped to admire.

"Everything okay?"  Piper asks.

"Oh, we fine, aren't we, Maddy?"  Suzanne smiles at the little girl and accepts the dandelion she's being offered.  "Just taking our time."

"Okay," Piper smiles at the kid.  "Just wanted to check."

Maddy's still handing Suzanne flowers, and she offers one of her fistful to Piper.  "Everything goes so fast around here sometimes," she explains.  "It's good to let someone else slow it down for a little bit."

Piper nods at that.  She should run back up ahead, seeing as she'd left Bennett alone with twelve kids, but instead she falls in with Suzanne and Maddy's halting, leisurely pace.  "You've worked here before, right?" 

"Fourth summer," Suzanne confirms.  "Longer than anyone, I think."

"It shows," Piper tells her.  "You're  _really_  really good with them." 

She flashes a wide, white smile.  "Thanks."  She's quiet for a moment, then adds, "Your girl?  Tall Glasses?"  Piper grins at the description and nods a confirmation.  "Yeah, yeah, she's good with them, too."  For a beat Piper thinks she just means campers in general, and is wondering if she should be offended to be so obviously _not_ complimented, but then Suzanne adds, "The ones a lot of people don't pay attention to."

"Yeah."  Pipers got that chest swelling sensation again, like her heart may burst and spill over.  "She is."

 

* * *

 

Light's Out comes, and they walk outside as usual, Piper taking the usual turn toward the center of the cabins where the other counselors have already begun to gather, but Alex tugs her elbow in the other direction, grinning.  "We've got other plans, actually."   She holds up a paper bag she must've grabbed on their way out and flashes its contents at Piper: a bottle of wine.  "Date Night, Pipes."

Piper's smile starts to creep across her face even as she asks confusedly, " _Date_ night?"

"Uh-huh.  Nicky and Lorna are gonna stick close by, hang between the cabins.  They'll call if anything happens...we gotta return the favor tomorrow, but tonight, we can go wherever the fuck we want...limited to the vast wilderness of these campgrounds, anyway."

Lacing their fingers together, Piper nods in approval of the idea, and they wander off in no particular hurry, passing the bottle between them, trading sips of warm pink wine.  

"How do we  _still_ have alcohol?"  Piper wonders aloud.  It's something she's been thinking about, considering the supply at the nightly circle never seems to be depleting.  "Did people bring full luggage sets just to hold drinks?"

Alex laughs at her.  "Of course not, dumbass.  Red's son brings it."

" _What_?"

"She doesn't  _know,_ obviously.  Or she pretends not to.  Don't ask, don't tell kinda thing.  But he drives in from town every couple days to bring anything the camp's running low on.  Including alcohol for us."  She passes Piper the bottle and smirks.  "And we all have to pitch in at the end of the summer, so you may as well drink up so you get your money's worth."  They walk on for a few quiet moments, then Alex nudges her shoulder against Piper's.  "So where do you wanna go?"

They end up at the far end of the campground, at a small, sand filled playground adjacent to the dirt paved area reserved for campers and tents.  It's out of operation during the camp, and they never make use of the playground, it being a oriented toward kids a little younger than ten, but Piper's seen it in the distance when they walk to and from the gym.  

Piper kicks off her sandals and takes off toward the swings, the good kind, with rubber bucket seats and long metal chains.  She hadn't eaten much at dinner (Sloppy Joes, emphasis on the  _sloppy_ ), and the wine bottle is already halfway empty from their walk, so Piper's got a light, pleasant hum of a buzz.  She plops gracelessly down on one of the swings and kicks herself off, legs pumping, finding that old, familiar rhythm of childhood.  Alex sits down in the sand, taking a swig of wine and watching Piper with evident amusement.

"What?"  Piper taunts.  "You  _too cool_ or something?"

"Exactly.  Way too fucking cool.  You look ridiculous."   But she's grinning, eyes bright with affection.  

Piper pokes her tongue between her teeth, then tilts her head back, letting the wind rush over her, the sky blurring above.  After a few moments, she lets her toes slide against the ground, bringing the swing to an unsteady stop.  She walks over to Alex, plucks the wine bottle from her hand, and continues over to the little metal merry go round, the kind of spinning, wobbly circle raised a couple feet off the ground, with metal handrails stretched from the center like spokes of a wheel.  

Piper sits between two of the rails, dragging one foot on the ground to set herself spinning, and she's just got it going enough where she can lift her leg up when the the whole thing lurches to an abrupt stop that sends Piper's shoulder jamming against the rail.

" _Ow!_  Jesus, Al."

"Sorry."  Alex smirks, still holding onto the rail she'd grabbed to stop the merry go round.  She takes the bottle from Piper and drinks, then sets it aside so she can crouch down on her knees, just below eye level with Piper, and pull her into a kiss.

It intensifies quickly, the merry go round rotating a few degrees underneath them, and Alex shifts as she digs her knees firmly into the sand.  She catches Piper's lower lip between her teeth then moves away, her mouth hot on Piper's jaw, on her neck, sucking sweaty skin between her teeth, tongue mapping the freckles the sun's scattered there over the past few weeks.  Every bite pulls a stuck, whimpering sound from Piper's throat, and she tilts her head back to allow Alex better access, because whatever, she'll tell the kids they're bug bites.  

Piper's hands are caught in Alex's hair, but Alex's are sliding up under her shirt, holding her in place, and Piper raises her arms obligingly and the tank top comes off. Alex kisses a trail down Piper's, finger's teasingly tracing the outline of her bra.

Alex lifts her head, reaching back up to crash their lips together, then pulls away just as quickly, lifting her glasses up and setting them carefully aside.  She smiles at Piper, this miraculous, beaming smile, then kisses her again, softer.  

Just like that, the world slows down.  For maybe the first time in her life, Piper can feel her worries seep away, burning up into ash.  It feels like she doesn't have to think about what happens next, that as long as this is happening  _now_ , everything'll be okay.

Alex's hands move off her, briefly gripping the edges of the merry go round so she can shuffle back, move lower, easily pulling away Piper's athletic shorts.  There's a clumsy moment as Piper has to draw her knees up to allow Alex to tug them off without getting in her own way, and fuck it, better go ahead and lose the underwear, too.  The metal is cold against her skin, and Alex settles back between her legs, forearms resting on top of Piper's legs for balance, the merry go round swaying back and forth below them anyway.  Piper wraps her shins around Alex's waist for balance, sidling back on the merry go round, her back thudding against the pole in the center, neck propped against the triangle where the hand rails meet.  

Alex's mouth is back on her skin, Piper's muscles twitching with every touch.  Her breaths are coming out in shallow, shuddering gaps, and when Alex drags her tongue teasingly along the tan line from her bathing suit Piper lets out a sharp whine, and she swears she can _feel_ Alex smiling against her skin.  She kisses her way up to the juncture of Piper's legs, maddeningly slow, and Piper has to curl her fingers around the guardrails to keep herself steady.  

Finally finally  _finally_ Alex's mouth comes down on her, and a throaty moan curls out of Piper's throat.  Her hips roll and arch into Alex's mouth as best she can in the small space, and she can feel her own pulse thrumming out a drumbeat between her legs, against Alex's tongue.  

They've had to be quiet all month, mindful of the preteens sleeping on the other side of their wall;  Piper's got a pink arch of bite marks in the curve between her thumb and forefinger, such is the difficulty in stopping herself from crying out.  But tonight there's no need for quiet, the two of them a safe distance from the cabins and staff housing, with only the blinking fireflies and humming cicadas for company.  Piper takes advantage of that, whimpering, gasping Alex's name, crying out with abandon, and it seems to bring out the tease in Alex:  she dips her tongue in the spread of Piper with lapping, generous strokes, leading her right to the edge, and then retreats, pressing sticky, gentle kisses against Piper's inner thigh.  She is all flickering licks and pulsing kisses, all rise and fall, making Piper beg for it. 

"Alex...Alex,  _please_."  She's so tight she might shatter, that she could send the whole merry go round spinning off its axis.  " _Please_."  Her thighs start to tremble, her ankles smacking against Alex's back, digging in, and Alex's tongue starts lapping at her clit in shorter, fiercer strokes, yes yes  _yes_ , right there, _finally_ , and Piper lets out a shriek that breaks instantly into pieces.  

Alex lifts her head, bracing her hands against the edge of the merry go round to pull herself up, lips glistening, eyes bright.  She wipes her mouth against the inside of her wrist, then crawls all the way onto the merry go round, knees on either side of Piper's legs as she leans down to kiss her.  Without her anchoring them to the ground, the merry go round spins lazily, slowly, only adding to Piper's wobbly dizziness.  

"Doing okay?"  Alex asks teasingly.  

Piper nods emphatically, like she's lost the power of speech.  She brushes her fingers pointlessly across Alex's face, then nestles her face briefly into the crook of Alex's neck, mouth rounding gently against salty, damp skin.  When she finds slightly more in control, Piper lifts her head and smiles, small and crooked.  "Your turn?" 

Alex grins, flicking her eyebrows up and down.  "If you want...but I kind wanna try on the slide."

 

* * *

 

 

The final week events start up as the end of camp gets closer.  Once again there will be a dance, but this session, Piper and Alex's campers start preparing early. Namely, using every rest period the final week to practice a coordinated dance they plan to premiere in the gymnasium.

After three days of practice, with Piper and Alex banished to the porch, out of earshot of the music, they're finally invited in to learn the dance themselves. 

The girls are lined up in two rows of four, their faces flushed and amusingly intense.  Rachel has an iPod nano hooked up to a small portable speaker, and she asks Piper to press play when they give her the signal.

Obligingly, Piper stands with her finger poised over the button as Rachel trots back in line, but before she presses anything, her eyes widen at the song title.  "Wait, _that's_ what you've been dancing to?"

They all nod earnestly.  "Flaca said she'd play it."

Piper gives Alex a skeptical look, holding out the screen for her to see.  Alex laughs, then shrugs.  "Hey, if Flaca agreed to play it."

"Fine."  Piper presses play, and the music bursts to life on tinny, crackling speakers.  

 _My milkshake brings all the boy's to the yard_...

For the next twenty minutes they master the moves (dip, brush left shoulder, then right shoulder, sprinkler, turn, and, well.... _milkshake_ ).  The girls insist on another practice round before bed, to make sure their counselors are worthy of joining in.

 

* * *

 

 

The last few days of camp play out with almost startling similarity to the first session's end, the only real exception being the routine to "Milkshake" at the dance, which earns Piper and Alex no end of shit from the rest of the counselors.   On the last day, when the kids get ready to leave, Piper can't help but nudge Alex repeatedly as the other campers tearfully hug and make Lily  _promise_ to come back next summer, and to make sure to request to be in their cabin again.

Their cabin clears out fairly quickly, and Alex and Piper head down to the gymnasium for their a meeting with Red and Gloria before they take them to dinner.  Most of the counselors are there or arriving, everyone milling around, taking photos and comparing the sadness of their departed campers.  

Piper ends up in a ten minute conversation with Suzanne about the camper she'd been walking with that day of the hike, and her utter despair to leave the cabin.  When it's over, she looks around for Alex and finds her perched alone on the stage next to an open box of loaded craft supplies.

She vaults the stage and sits down on the other side of the plastic crate.  "I think those are supposed to be packed up."

Alex grins, not looking up, as she slides a glass bead onto a black leather strap.  "I'm doing what you wanted.  Reciprocity."  She points to the closed lid of another box, where a line of beads has been carefully laid out in order.  Most of them are the fancy glass ones the kids had to use very sparingly, but there are five from the more mundane, plastic box, the white circular beads printed with letters and symbols.  

An **I**.  A bead with a black heart printed on it.  Then  **Y-O-U**.  

Alex smiles smugly, obviously pleased with herself.  Piper traces her fingers over the beads, pressing the pad of her thumb against the heart.  "You _heart_ me, huh?"  

Smile softening, Alex pauses in her work to meet Piper's gaze.  "Didn't want to go too serious on a _friendship_ bracelet."  

Piper reaches across the box, trailing her fingers across Alex's knuckles.  "I heart you, too."  She lowers her eyes, still playing with Alex's hand.  "Uh...I know this seems late to ask, but...how far are you from Northampton?  And how would you feel about...visiting.  Both ways, obviously."

An answer doesn't come immediately, but when Piper finally looks up, Alex is giving her this smile that looks like it's made of light.  "I am actually," she says slowly. "Not very far from Northampton.  And I happen to have a lot of time for visiting." 

Piper grins, and it takes her a beat to remember that there are no kids around, that she can lean across the box and kiss Alex all she wants.

Alex is the one to pull away, still smiling.  "Hold on.  Gotta finish this shit."  She slides the rest of the beads onto the leather band. Piper presents her wrist, and Alex ties it securely on.  Rotating her wrists, admiring it, she says, "If you  _heart_ me so much...we need to make a rule for tonight."

She makes a face.  " _Rules_?  That doesn't sound like much fun."

Piper looks at her sternly.  "No Spin the Bottle.  I'm not fucking watching you kiss Nicky again."

Alex's eyes light up, and she doesn't even bother to hide her smug delight over this bout of jealousy.  "I didn't control the bottle, Pipes."

"No but you weren't exactly unenthusiastic," Piper counters, trying to sound light instead of petulant.  

Alex laughs.  "Because Lorna was so excited about kissing that Christopher asshole that Nicky was pouting about it.  And I could tell she wanted to make her jealous. Which I guess worked."  Alex smirks.  " _You_ being jealous was just a bonus."

Piper shoves the craft box aside and slides directly in front of Alex.  "You're kind of an ass."  She punctuates the sentence with a hard, forceful kiss.  The kind of kiss that makes her point.

Alex barely moves away, and Piper feels the hot breath of her words on her lips as she agrees, "No Spin the Bottle."

 

* * *

 

 

They wake up the next morning, stretched beside each other on the gazebo that stretches over the lake, only half clothed, hair damp and tangled, an empty bottle of tequila somehow wedged under Piper's knee, heads pounding with twin hangovers.  Alex and Piper look at each other and burst out laughing.  The night before, the second dose of traditional debauchery, is a liquor soaked, smoke and fire filled blur of skinny dipping and mattress sledding and dirty, outdoor sex.

"Is this part of camp tradition?"  

Alex smirks, letting her head thunk back against the wooden floor.  "I think we've started a fuck ton of new ones."

Piper folds herself against Alex's side, content to lay there and not think about driving home in a few hours, about the cabin they still need to pack up and cling out. The sun is barely peaking over the pine trees, the air bathed blue and orange.  

She leaves for college in a few weeks.  Her life wasn't supposed to change until then.

But the world at this moment feels quiet and warm and blissfully slow.  And for once in her life, Piper's fine to just live in it, to not know precisely what's coming.


End file.
